Pirates, Traitors and Goats, Oh My!
by Gottahavemyncis
Summary: Ever wondered what happened to Gibbs & the team after the Chimera was destroyed by the US Navy and the credits rolled, leaving them out on the ocean in a stolen Russian assault craft? McGibbs, eventual slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Pirates, Traitors and Goats, Oh My!**

Day One: On the Assault Craft

From the episode:

_Tim: "So, pirates that weren't really pirates, who were actually Russian sailors, were on a covert mission to steal a Navy research ship that wasn't actually a Navy research ship in order to get back nuclear weapons that we thought they didn't think we had retrieved?" _

_Gibbs replies ... and the Navy fires on Chimera, destroying it._

_Ziva: "How did the Navy know we were off the ship?"_

_Gibbs: "Don't think they did."_

And now:

Gibbs felt, rather than saw the horrified looks from his younger teammates and gave one of his trademark smirks, hiding his worry from them. Ducky would know his concerns but unless someone else brought them up, best to stay quiet for now. He concentrated on the ocean around him as he piloted the liberated assault craft on a westerly course through the heavy seas. He spotted the ship's radio and made a mental note to try it later. There was no time now, they were going to have to just tough out the next few minutes.

"Brace yourselves. Shock waves any time now."

He was none too soon with his warning; the small craft dipped and swayed and nearly spun as it was battered by the first of the turbulent waters generated by the destruction of the Chimera. Behind him, he could hear Ducky speaking calmly to his unfortunate junior agent who was heaving over the side. Gibbs fought to keep the boat from capsizing as the turbulence turned to a thankfully brief maelstrom. At some point DiNozzo made his way to his side and they continued the struggle together. After what seemed like hours, the ocean gradually calmed, completing its tantrum over the destruction and having absorbed the wreckage of the Chimera.

"All clear. We can breathe for a little bit now. Has anyone tried their cell phones?"

Tim replied groggily, "No signal, Boss, don't know if we're too far in international waters or some other reason."

"Fix it, McGee. Duck, how is he?"

"He's becoming dehydrated, Jethro, the patch he's wearing is past its time limit and the others that we brought were destroyed in the shock waves, they're too soaked to be effective. I hope your plan is to reach help or get us to dry land?"

"He won't get accustomed to being on the water?"

"NO, Jethro, it's an inner ear problem caused by …" Ducky paused and looked at Tim, who gave a slight shake of his head, "well, caused by an accident as a child. There is no cure or getting over it!"

Tim opened his mouth to speak but the glare from Gibbs stopped him. Defeated, he slumped back on the deck. Gibbs quietly gave the wheel to DiNozzo, "DiNozzo, maintain course, keep her steady. David, there should be navigational maps, look below, we need to figure out where we are and how to get home."

Working his way aft toward McGee, the Team Leader regretted his earlier question, knowing Tim would now assume he would be blamed for any problems that could in any way be seen to be caused by his seasickness. Gibbs made a mental note to make sure DiNozzo understood the topic was off limits for teasing or pranks. There was no room for that on this boat anyway.

Reaching the end of the bench, Gibbs sat, carefully looking over his miserable agent. Reaching out, he gave him a supportive tap on his shoulder. He figured a headslap would make things worse at this point, not to mention Ducky was watching them very closely. And a hug was definitely out of the picture, even if it was on his mind.

"Ok, we need a plan. Cell phones fixable, Tim?"

Tim's eyes widened as his first name was invoked. That was not good but he knew better than to give his boss anything less than the truth.

"No Boss. Only chances I can see are if we try again at night; if we happen to be within reach of a satellite, it's possible. Or if we get close enough to a shipping lane or land. It would help to know where we are, of course."

"Ok, good job with the assessment McGee." Seeing the young man had more to say, Gibbs signaled him to continue.

"If we're in danger from whoever launched this boat, Boss, we need to disable the GPS in all the electronic equipment immediately. And the phones need to be turned off, the batteries removed to save what charges we have left. Unless there is some sort of charger on this boat, we have no way to recharge them. In case we can use them somehow."

DiNozzo spoke up, "You don't have a charger on you, Probie?"

"Not this time, Tony; Ducky, do you..." turning, the junior agent saw a smile on their doctor's face, "I have one, Timothy, Mr. Palmer and I each added one to our go bags last time we were unexpectedly overnight at a crime scene."

"Great, Ducky, then as long as we have power in the boat, we can charge the phones. But seriously, Boss, disabling GPS has to happen now."

"Good point, Tim. You're in charge of that, get everyone's cells and do what you need to." Gibbs paused. "Why don't you leave your phone intact for now, without the GPS, until you try the night-satellite-thingy. Mitas," Gibbs turned to the ship's cook, still huddling aft, "do you have a cell or anything electronic on you?"

The young man, who had been quiet since they escaped from the ship, reached into his pocket, pulled out a cell and handed it to Gibbs, who passed it to McGee. Tim took it, disabled the GPS, then removed the battery and looked around the deck for a likely storage spot. Finding nothing, he put both phone and battery in his pocket for the time being.

After the cell phone discussion, Ducky had disappeared below to help Ziva. Both now appeared, Ziva with maps and notebooks, Ducky with bottles of water, and packets of cheese and crackers, which he passed to each of them. He also tossed Tim a waterproof padded zippered bag, large enough to hold the phones and batteries. From Tim's sitting position against the railing, he gave the doctor a small salute.

"There's quite of lot of "stuff" below, Jethro, some of it might be helpful. If no one currently needs my services, I think I shall take an inventory. Perhaps Mitas could assist."

Gibbs nodded at his good friend. The inventory was an excellent idea and involving Mitas even better. The man had been attacked, knocked unconscious, accused of treason, and then rushed to the attack craft when they escaped. He likely needed to do something mundane to release some of the stress of the day. Letting him spend some time getting to know Ducky was also a good plan. Who knew how long they would be stuck out here… he shook his head to dispel that disquieting thought.

After checking with DiNozzo, he played with the radio then noticed it was not the usual device seen on ships. This had one channel only; Gibbs thought it probably linked directly to whatever ship had launched this one. Since he and his team had the Soviet nuclear warhead the Russian assault team had been looking for, he did not want to be found by their superiors. Motioning to Ziva, they both took a long look at the radio and soon got Tim involved. He located the GPS chip and disabled it, as he'd done all the others, knowing it was sadly unlikely that their own people were looking for them. Gibbs breathed a little easier once that was accomplished, he asked Tim to disable the radio even further so that the lead ship would assume the craft lost at sea rather than stolen.

Gibbs took the maps and notebooks from Ziva and sat down at the table mid-ship, motioning for Ziva and Tim to join him. Positioned where they were, Tony could still hear them and contribute to the discussion. The first thing on the agenda was finding their position on the planet, followed closely by estimating how much fuel was left in the boat. Once again, his team came through with the information, pooling what they had to make as complete a picture as they could. Ziva had questioned Mitas earlier about his knowledge of the ship's location. He didn't know much, the crew had been flown out just as they had, but what little he did know helped. Ziva's years in Mossad with operations in many different countries, gave her some knowledge of where the Soviet warhead was likely placed decades ago. Tim knew how long they had been in the air from Anacostia; they put their heads together to estimate the miles flown and along with the bits from Mitas and some gut feelings from Gibbs, they were able to come up with a reasonable assumption. They'd know better once the stars were visible; Tim and Gibbs were both astronomy buffs and figured they'd be able to confirm their location after dark.

Emerging once again from the lower deck, Ducky held a box of ginger cookies for Tim, hoping they might help to settle his stomach. Once the turbulence had passed, Tim brought out his "experimental" aids in combating his seasickness: a ginger root supplement and wristbands, called sea bands*. He had not had a chance to try them while on the Chimera, now he was praying they would work. Slipping the bands on and swallowing the supplement with the rest of the bottle of water, he got to work on figuring out how much fuel they had left in the boat. They'd found the manual for the craft, luckily written in both Russian and French. With Ziva translating, they found the number of gallons for the boat's fuel capacity and estimated nautical miles per gallon. Once they had that, Tim and Tony worked together to determine how many miles the craft had likely already traveled and how much further it could go. That number, which they checked 3 times before they ran it by the others, was rather alarming. As soon as they came to an agreement on the estimate, they went back to the maps to find any piece of land or rock big enough to temporarily house them. Although they saw a few likely spots, it did them little good, except for reassurance that there were spots of rock or land out there, until they knew for sure where they were.

In the meantime, the long day drew to a close as the sun dipped beyond the horizon, verifying, as Tony laughingly pointed out, that they had been correct about which way was west. That crack, meant to ease the tension, did so with a few chuckles and the expected headslap, albeit a light one, for DiNozzo.

While they waited for the stars to be visible, Ziva, Mitas and Ducky reported on the inventory they'd discovered. First of all, Ducky presented Gibbs with an old-fashioned sextant which they both knew how to use, along with a few other old fashioned navigational aids. There were enough canned food items to last them a few weeks if they were careful, providing vegetables, fruit and some protein. Mitas had found a huge box of potatoes, making them wonder if the Russian crew had planned to make their own vodka or perhaps they were just very fond of potatoes.

There was even a decent supply of coffee, much to the relief of the team. Mitas looked puzzled at the sighs of relief but didn't comment. There was a small refrigerator housing a package of still frozen meat, a large carton of eggs, several bottles of beer and a few vegetables. In the tiny freezer compartment, they discovered a frozen bottle of vodka, which Ducky claimed for medicinal purposes. They decided the crew had probably planned to celebrate their successful reclamation of the nuclear warhead with the meat, potatoes, beer and probably the vodka.

Other items included: an extensive first aid kit, which Ducky also commandeered; kitchen items, the grill from a barbecue, but no barbecue, a stack of thin mattresses and blankets they conjectured were meant for the bunks in the compartment below, decks of cards, poker chips, several items of men's clothing including cold weather gear, a bit of rope, a sewing kit, some paperback books, printed in Russian; fishing line and hooks. The item saved for last brought a laugh to them all; oddly enough, it appeared to be a shopping bag with various items still in their original packaging, complete with receipts. Ziva claimed that one for herself.

All of the humorous conjecture about those items stopped when Mitas revealed they had also found diving gear for four people, including spear guns and fully loaded oxygen tanks. Lastly, much to Gibbs' delight, Mitas handed over a toolbox full of Gibbs' favorite things: hammer, screwdrivers, small pry bar, folding saw, plus various fasteners. Given the items found, they surmised this craft had been used in a variety of ways, from assault to possible training missions to long term surveillance as well as simple transportation from ship to shore and judging from that shopping bag, tourism.

Now that the sky was dark enough for the countless stars to be visible, Tim and Gibbs stretched out on the deck to locate constellations, compare notes and with any luck confirm their location in the world. As some of the team had gone below to sleep in the bunks, they kept their voices low, calling out each constellation as they spotted it.

Once they had their information, Gibbs used the sextant as a final confirmation. As he was doing that, he realized that Tim was no longer exhibiting any sign of seasickness. Making a mental note to check with his agent about this when they had a chance, he finished his work, finding that all their various calculations had been very close to true.

Now they knew where they were, nowhere near home, any large land mass or shipping lanes. This made sense since the Chimera had been on a secret mission and the original drop of the warhead would have been in a scarcely traveled area although still within the range capability of that era missile's target, the United States. They could use the navigational charts to find a suitable temporary home before they ran out of fuel, and had to row their way home; yes they had found aluminum oars! Gibbs was secretly amused by the irony of them pirating such a well-provisioned boat. He wondered if the Russian crew they had stranded on the Chimera had been its regular crew and if they had just learned to store anything they might want on the assault craft.

Once they finished, Gibbs relieved DiNozzo at the helm and the Senior Field Agent headed below deck. A few minutes later, Ziva returned topside, having decided to spend the night on deck. She dragged a mattress and blanket with her; eying them, Tim thought that looked pretty good, and disappeared below only to reappear with his own mattress and blanket – and a cup of coffee for Gibbs, compliments of Ducky. As Tim handed the mug to his boss, Gibbs pulled him back, "Hang on, Tim, you feeling better now? You haven't been sick in hours and you're up and around."

Tim gave him a quiet and relieved smile, "Yeah Boss. You know the regular medication just wasn't working for me, so I did a little more research online recently and found that ginger root helps defeat seasickness. I also found a product called 'sea bands'," he pointed to the wrist bands, "which are acupressure bands that fit around the wrist just like a sweat band, with a pressure stud sewn inside. I didn't have a chance to use the ginger or the wrist bands before this afternoon, but they're really working well, I'm barely noticing the motion of the ship and the waves."

Gibbs grinned, "That's great, kiddo. For a little while today I was afraid we were going to lose you."

Tim gave him a look, "I know you're teasing, Boss, but if these hadn't worked I would have been in a pretty bad place by now. "

His boss nodded, "I know; Ducky made that very clear to me. Grateful that didn't happen – and you found the solution yourself, good job Tim!"

"Boss, there's something else. Ducky didn't want to break a confidence and I didn't really want to talk about it with everyone, but my own number one rule is not to lie to you, so I need to correct what he said earlier on my behalf. It's…my inner ear problem Boss; it wasn't caused by an accident."

Gibbs frowned, "What happened Tim?"

Tim took a deep breath, "My father hit me; punched me in the head when I was 4 years old. Asked him to help me make a birthday card for my mother and he hammered me. Punctured an eardrum. Luckily I didn't suffer any hearing loss, but any thought of following the McGee tradition of being a Naval Officer was ruined that day."

Gibbs tried to appear calm and not as horrified as he felt. "Tim, that's awful. Was that the only time he hit you?"

McGee shook his head, "No Boss, it wasn't the only time but it was the last time. My grandmother Penny raised me after that and I was a "Navy brat" with my step-grandfather and her. For years, I only returned to my parents' home for visits when my father was away. After Sarah was born, I asked to move home again; my father and I co-existed after that. We just didn't speak. That's a major reason I worked so hard to finish high school as early as I did and went off to college; I couldn't wait to leave my father's house. When I left for college, I became an emancipated minor."

Gibbs jaw nearly dropped."You were on your own at 16?"

"15, actually."

Gibbs put his coffee down and leaving one hand on the helm, put his hand on Tim's shoulder.

"And you earned scholarships for both universities. You did a good job raising yourself, kiddo. You have a lot to be proud of."

"Have my grandmother to thank for raising me, Boss. She made sure I was well rounded in my interests and that I always knew I was loved. Made sure I had plenty of contact with other kids, did some sports, even when I only wanted to work on the computer or read books. That's why I got into scouting, baseball and astronomy; she pushed me to develop other interests. After I moved back with my parents, Penny, Grandpa Nelson and I spoke nearly every day. It was the same thing after I was emancipated and in college; in fact she was the one who sponsored me for the emancipation."

"Like to meet her some day, Tim. Sounds like a good woman."

Tim smiled shyly. "Yeah she is, Boss, the best. I just hope we're not out here too long, I hate to worry her."

"You still talk with her a lot?"

"At least once a week Boss, even if it's just to say we're camped out at work on a case and I can't talk. My grandfather's gone now and Penny is kicking up her heels all over the world, but still we manage."

"We'll get home, Tim, might not be tomorrow, but we'll get home. "

"I know we will, Boss, I trust you and have faith that between all of us, we'll figure out a way!"

"That's good, kiddo. Now go get some sleep. Going to stay up on deck?" At the nod from his junior agent, Gibbs continued, "Don't be watching the stars all night. Now that you're an able seaman, I'll give you some piloting lessons so you can spell Tony and me at the helm. You can do nights and use the stars to navigate. And make sure you make yourself as secure as possible on deck, McGee, case we run into any rough weather."

"Aye Aye Boss!" McGee chuckled as his cheeky remark earned him a soft headslap.

Tim found that Ziva had folded the table to the railing and secured it. She had then fastened her mattress to the cleats imbedded in the deck, hidden under the table when it was in use. He followed her example, securing his mattress and laying down, bunched his jacket up for a pillow and relaxed, watching the thousands of stars visible in the velvety black sky. As Gibbs had ordered, he'd kept his phone intact in his pocket and now he took it out, turned it on and scanned the night skies, hoping to link to a satellite. After doing several careful passes over a period of time, he turned the phone off, removed the battery and tucked both safely away. He would try again the next night. Through his peripheral vision, he could see Gibbs at the ship's wheel, keeping their course steady. Feeling safe with his boss watching over them all, Tim finally gave into sleep.

* * *

A/N: Credit for the idea of using ginger root and seabands to combat seasickness goes to Smartkid37, who introduced them in a wonderful story of hers unfortunately not posted on this site.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Day Two: Skipping Rocks

The break of dawn found DiNozzo relieving Gibbs at the helm with the older man stepping below to catch some sleep. As he left the deck, Ziva woke abruptly, her hand on one of her knives, hidden under the jacket she'd been using for a pillow. She knew where she was but not who was lying so close to her. Once she recognized McGee, she relaxed, watching the brightening horizon for a few minutes before rising.

Padding down the steps, she went below to prepare for the day. She paused in the small galley, seeing a folded paper with her name on it. Picking it up, she discovered an Earl Grey Breakfast tea bag hidden in the folds of the paper, with a brief note from Ducky that he would gladly share the stash he'd brought with him and please not to throw the tea bag away. Smiling, she tucked it into her pocket and grabbing her pack, made her way to the head. When she returned, she found Mitas in the galley, just taking the eggs out of the small refrigerator.

"Good Morning, Mitas, or do you prefer to be called Cory?"

"Mitas is fine, Officer David. Do you think everyone will want eggs? I could slice up some potatoes and fry them, serve them with the eggs. And should I make coffee now? Last night everyone was looking at Agent Gibbs when we mentioned the coffee."

"Please call me Ziva and yes, eggs and potatoes would be good. No need to make any coffee now. Maghee and DiNozzo decided last night that Gibbs can have the coffee and he has come off helm duty and gone to sleep. Ducky, that is Dr. Mallard, and I are both tea drinkers. How about you, are you a coffee or tea drinker?"

"Not really either, Offi…Ziva. I'm more of a soda and beer guy, but guess that will change until we get back home."

"Looks like it, but Gibbs is very resourceful, I am sure we will be home before too long." Ziva was rewarded with a smile from the cook, the first one since they had found him on the Chimera.

"Good to know, thanks. Guess I'd better get to work on breakfast."

Ziva smiled back at him, stashed her bag in a storage cupboard and then climbed back on deck. McGee was awake, gathering their blankets and unlatching the mattresses to return below. She looked at him speculatively.

"Maghee, we are still on the water and you are no longer ill, what has changed?" She held up her hand as he started to speak. "Not that change is a bad thing, I have been…concerned about you, especially in our situation."

Tim just grinned at her, "I've found something that works Ziva, but I'd rather wait and just tell everyone at once, over breakfast, whatever that will be. Hope you don't mind waiting a bit?"

"No, of course not, that makes sense. Mitas is preparing potatoes and eggs for breakfast and I told him not to make any coffee. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, DiNozzo and I will survive without it but I really don't want Boss to go without; he …," here Tim paused and looked around him, laughing a bit, "I was sure he was behind me! If we leave the coffee for him, then he can gradually cut back and it won't be quite as painful if we run out."

Ziva smirked, "You mean not quite as painful for all of us!"

Tim nodded, and then headed below with the mattresses and blankets. In what he was starting to think of as the "bunk room", he quietly laid each mattress down on an empty bunk, along with the blankets, then grabbed his 'go' bag. Near the galley, he smelled breakfast cooking and saw Ducky had just come from the direction of the head. He wished Mitas a good morning and then again to Ducky as they squeezed past each other in the narrow passageway.

Pulling the table back down, breakfast was served and enjoyed by all but Gibbs who remained sleeping. Ducky relieved Tony at the wheel so he could enjoy his breakfast, but the Senior Field Agent insisted on resuming his piloting duties after eating. Before he left the table, Tim told them of the success of his "experimental" seasick aids, showing them the sea bands he was wearing and the large bottle of ginger root supplements. He had to admit he was touched at how relieved they were, how concerned they had been, for all of Tony's teasing, about his seasickness.

Cleaning up and stowing everything away until the next meal, they settled back around the table and pulled out the maps. Taking the star chart Tim and Gibbs had created, Tim tweaked it the tiny bit required to account for the distance covered overnight and then they studied the map, circling a 100-mile radius of their current position. Their goal was to find solid land where they could anchor, figure out their resources, and then plan their way home. Three likely prospects were circled along with two slightly less promising looking spots. Ducky again relieved DiNozzo so that he and McGee could plot the new course, just a slight zag south from their current westerly course. As they worked, Tim remembered what Gibbs had promised the evening before.

"Tony, Gibbs said now that I'm not seasick any longer, I could learn how to pilot the boat, so that I can spell you guys – and Ducky."

"That'd be great McGee; then we can each work fewer hours. Thinking about doing a 12- hour shift every day was worrying me! Although, if things go well we won't be living on the boat for much longer. Still, piloting is a good thing to know – I mean look what it did for Sulu – he got his own ship!"

McGee smirked at his teammate, "Nice Star Trek reference and cross reference from piloting a boat to piloting a star ship!"

"Ooh yeah and when you screw up, McGoo, I can call you Gilligan!"

Tim groaned, he had deliberately not brought up that old TV show with the castaways on the 'three hour tour'. Really, he was a little proud of Tony. They'd been official castaways for about 20 hours now, since they had stolen, or rather liberated the assault craft and the Chimera was blown up. This was the first mention of 'Gilligan'.

Before Gibbs woke up, they arrived at one of the islands circled as a prospective temporary home for them. It was very small, really an islet. They anchored the boat and did 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to see who would wake Gibbs. Ziva 'won' and smiling slyly, headed below. Soon there was fresh coffee brewing and as it began to drip into the pot, she switched the pot with a coffee mug and let it fill with the deep dark brew.

Her plan was to wave the mug under the boss's nose, knowing that would wake him. Turning with the full mug, she nearly spilled the precious brew on the man himself. It seems she miscalculated; the smell of the coffee brewing was enough to wake him…and perhaps the boat no longer moving through the waves.

He quickly had a bite to eat with his brew while his crew gave him all the news since he'd turned the helm over to Tony hours ago. He decided that he, Ziva and Tim would swim or wade ashore for a quick exploration, leaving Tony, Mitas and Ducky with the boat.

The shore party reached land after a brief swim and a longer wade. It was a small enough piece of land that they did not split into teams. As they walked towards the center of the islet, Tim noticed something significant and mentioned it. "It's very flat, there's no high points. Even if we find fresh water, in a high tide we would be in real trouble. And in a tsunami sea, we wouldn't stand a chance."

Gibbs looked around, "There's very little vegetation Tim, that doesn't bode well for finding a fresh water source."

Ziva gave her opinion, "With high tides and so little vegetation, this place seems like we should pass on it, yes?"

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, but let's see if there's at least a little fresh water, maybe we can fill the water jugs."

They had tied rope through the handles of four empty water jugs and towed them into shore with them, also bringing a testing kit from their gear. An hour later, they'd covered the entire surface of the rock, finding no fresh water. Bringing the empty jugs with them, they returned to the boat, shaking their heads at the inquiring looks of their shipmates.

Tony took the wheel again and Tim stood with him, starting his piloting lessons. Within an hour, they had reached another one of their target options. Tim's attention was torn between watching Tony's skillful maneuvering the boat around the rocky island and watching the island itself.

As they reached the northernmost tip, Ducky said what they were all thinking, "It's beautiful! However, there are no beaches or coves where we could put in."

Mitas quietly ventured to speak, "I spotted what might be caves, but they were really high up on the rocks and the mouths of them looked pretty small. "

Gibbs agreed, "Yeah, let's see what the rest of the island looks like."

Ninety minutes later, they reached the southern tip, having circled the island and found no access, no place to step ashore, not even a cave within climbing range in the craggy rock.

Discouraged as the day was wearing on, they changed course to a truer westerly heading and motored towards their third option. Tony handed the wheel to Tim, with Gibbs very close by. Tony, Mitas and Ziva went below, Tony for a break, the other two to prepare lunch. They ate topside, under the canopy which Tony and Mitas had raised at Ducky's insistence while the others were exploring the small island.

Not knowing how long they would be at sea, Ducky wanted them to limit their sun exposure as much as possible. There was some sunscreen among them, but hardly enough for all of them for more than a few days. Under orders from the ME and Gibbs, Tim, still at the helm, donned a large hat Ziva found in the shopping bag, one which folded when not in use and which, in Ducky's opinion, nicely covered his head and neck. Tim had argued that he could wear his NCIS cap as the others were doing, but Ducky had been quite firm.

Tim put the hat on, thinking that here he finally got to do something cool and he had to wear this thing, the dorkiest hat he'd ever seen. He was hugely surprised when the Boss, standing next to him, glared at him, although he also seemed to be hiding what might have been a smile.

"Owe you a headslap for that, McGee, can't reach your head with that hat on. Ducky's just looking out for you, be damn grateful."

"Uh…Boss, I didn't realize I said that out loud, won't happen again. Wearing the hat, Boss!"

When Tony came back on deck after his break, he laughed at the hat as soon as he spotted it and was the immediate recipient of a Gibbs-slap.

"Hey Boss, what was that for? You gotta admit, that hat is pretty funny looking."

"Yeah and how would you feel if Tim wasn't wearing it and got badly sunburned, DiNozzo? Think that's worth not wearing a 'dorky' hat?"

Tony, winced, looking wide-eyed at Tim, who just shook his head with a 'its-not-worth-your-life-just-leave-it' look at his friend. Silently, both wondered how much coffee Gibbs had had and, more to the point, how long it would hold out. Seemingly reading their minds, Gibbs growled, "Going for coffee," and disappeared down below.

It was another hour before they reached their goal. As they approached the island from the east, Mitas, armed with binoculars, spotted a narrow opening in the rock. Gibbs took the wheel from Tim, and carefully maneuvered the craft closer to the island. Now they could see that the opening was wide at the bottom, perfect for the boat and that it led into a large cavern.

Finding room enough to anchor the boat close to a sandy shore inside the cavern, and feeling the boat was safely hidden Gibbs gave permission for all of them to go ashore. Tim and Tony, the tallest in their group, went first, noting the depth of the water.

Once all were ashore, they noted the highest watermarks on the back wall of the cavern and believed it would be safe to set up their sleeping and living quarters there. They would just need the basics, as they wouldn't be there long. Exploring the cavern, they followed the passageway that led off the back of the cavern. They found what Tony quickly dubbed 'rooms', large hollows or cavities in rock where enough rocks had shifted or tumbled onto each other that some 'caves within caves' were formed. One such room had had a cave-in and they could see daylight through the top. Looking at the large amount of rock around and under them, they realized there might be enough rock on hand to build a rudimentary set of climbing rocks, serving as a crude staircase, to reach the surface of the island. They also noticed traces of water running down into some of the rooms. Mitas gathered some in his hands and would have tasted it if Ducky had not stopped him.

Explaining that it needed to be tested first, Tim brought out one of the testing kits the field agents had in their gear. Although it tested as fresh non-saline water, it did have elements of other substances in it. Hearing that, Mitas moved away from the trickles running down the rock walls.

Having explored enough to know the cavern was livable; they now set out to find the source of the fresh water. They needed to determine whether it was simply a puddle left from a recent rain, a stream running through the island or perhaps a pond serving as a reservoir. Reversing the boat out of the narrow opening took a bit of maneuvering which Gibbs handled well, avoiding scraping the boat against the rock walls, and they continued their sea trek to the northwest to explore the perimeter of the island. Having found a place to hide the assault craft and make living quarters, along with the trace of fresh water, they were optimistic about finding that very necessary fresh water source, as well as a way into their 'staircase room' from above.

At the northernmost tip of the island, they found a small cove with a sandy beach. They anchored the boat, deciding to leave Tony and Ducky to guard it while the rest swam in to shore. While Gibbs sought to be fair in assignments, he needed Tim's 'scouting' skills that melded so well with his own skill sets and really, Tony was not the man for that. He was just not a big fan of Mother Nature in the raw. Additionally, he felt the boat and Ducky were in the best hands with DiNozzo. Ducky had declined to join them as he had on that first islet, enjoying himself on the calming sea far too much to climb a bunch of rocks and look for water in the hot sun.

In preparation for their exploration, Tim emptied the waterproof bag of all but three phones. He then re-configured all three to walkie-talkies and handed Tony's back to him. Now the two guards could stay in touch with the 'landing party'. After a few head slaps apiece, both young men had finally ceased their Star Trek "away mission' references, although the last one even Gibbs had understood, having something to do with being glad neither were wearing a red shirt. As they left, Tim slipped his and Gibbs' Sigs into the bag, along with the water testing kit. He did this under Gibbs' orders, out of sight of Mitas who was still rather an unknown quantity to them. Knowing Ziva was the best swimmer, she was entrusted with the waterproof bag, which she fastened to the waistband of her cargo pants. They also brought two of the dive bags along, to hold samples of whatever they found, which they hoped would include fresh fruit. Also accompanying them were the water jugs, this time split into two pairs, again tied and towed by rope.

The swim in was brief, half of it wading in a low tide. Noting that, Gibbs marked the time; they would need to watch how long they explored or run the risk of being stranded until the next low tide. They took a quick look around the small cove, not finding anything of particular interest except a narrow path that wandered up onto the rocks. They climbed that and marked the entrance so they could easily find their way back down, and then split into two pairs, Gibbs and Ziva, Mitas and McGee.

"We'll meet back here at the entrance to the cove in two hours; check your watches when we leave. Our primary goal is to find the source of that fresh water, secondary is to find the chimney of our cavern. You find it you mark it and let us know. Third is any food source, fresh fruit is great, but see if there are animals here too. McGee, you and Mitas take one set of the water jugs, we'll take the other one. Also, you and David test both walkie-talkies."

Each one successfully reached their friends on the boat. Before they split, Ziva took Tim's Sig and clip from the waterproof bag and handed it to him, then passed Gibbs' to him. They'd meant to remain stealthy about the weapons in front of Mitas, but with the Sigs out of the bag, Gibbs just gave a slight shrug. The man was stuck living with them; he was going to have to get used to their weapons and in this situation, there was really no choice but to trust him to some degree. At the look on Mitas' face when he saw the weapons, Gibbs quipped, "What, you've never seen the movie 'Swiss Family Robinson'? Could be poisonous snakes or even pirates here for all we know." He smiled at the former ship's cook, whose eyes were close to popping out of his head, "Tim, you got Rule 9 covered?"

"Yeah Boss." Tim drew his knife, trying not to remember the giant boa constrictor attacking the donkey in that book, one he had spent many happy hours reading while living with Penny.

Mitas' eyes widened further, "You carry a knife?"

"Yep, everyone on Gibbs' team does, all the time."

"Even when you're not at work?" He startled as the three federal agents laughed, Tim responding to the question, "We're rarely not at work, Mitas, but yeah, I do, don't know about the others."

Mitas' lips twisted in something between a grimace and a grin. "Sure glad I'm not a bad guy."

With that, the two teams split. Tim waited a few minutes before he used his walkie-talkie to contact Ziva, testing their connectivity. As the two men walked, Tim kept his eyes moving around the landscape as he quickly explained to Mitas what they were looking for: fresh vegetation and animal prints that would help lead them to the fresh water source. He warned him to watch where he was walking, including the area around them, as observation would yield the chimney more easily than falling into it.

The island had quite a bit of vegetation but it wasn't difficult to navigate. They stopped at a cluster of palm trees and smaller bushes. Mitas found a couple of ripe coconuts near the base of one of the trees; scooping them up, he placed them in the dive bag he was carrying. A little further on, he found some berries and picked a hatful to take back and test before eating, tucking them carefully into a plastic bag and then tied it to his belt. There was no way he wanted any berries crushed by the coconuts in the dive bag! And after the water incident, he sure wasn't going to put anything in his mouth without knowing more about it. Tim spotted a shrub he believed was a cotton bush. If they were here for long, that could come in handy.

Both of them heard the welcoming trickle of a stream and turned their amble into a quick walk. Tim stopped to take a picture on his walkie-talkie or WT and sent it to Gibbs and to the boat. Ziva replied via WT, that they had just located the chimney of their cavern room and were surveying the surrounding area and marking it. They had also found fresh fruit.

Tim gathered a sample of the water and tested it, this time noting the foreign element as animal waste. He walked farther southeast, looking over the terrain with its untouched soil, wondering how he could get his hands on seeds to plant. If there were any potatoes left and any vegetables in the cooler…and there it was, the source of the water, a natural spring. He tested the water and found it to be purer than the stream, Ducky would have the final say but he believed it clean enough for drinking. Filling the two jugs, he slung the rope holding them together carefully over his shoulders and returned to Mitas. Tim had tasked him with looking for animal prints and had given him his knife in case he ran into an actual animal.

Having clearly marked his way to and from the springs, he found Mitas staring into the startled eyes of a goat, both standing stock-still. Tim automatically went into defensive mode and then relaxed, berating himself for leaving Mitas alone and unprotected. Finally he laughed, he couldn't help himself; he wasn't sure which animal was the more surprised, the goat or the human. The laughter apparently spurred the goat to action as it turned and bounded away.

Mitas sighed, "Thanks man. I sure wasn't expecting a goat! Kept thinking of that giant snake your boss mentioned."

"Yeah, I read the book and saw the movie and that was one scary snake. But it's my fault, Mitas, I shouldn't have left you here alone; as far as protection goes, one of us needs to be with you, not leave you by yourself. Really glad he didn't decide to butt you."

"No no, I want to pull my own weight here, Tim, I was just surprised is all."

"Believe me, you cooking for us is a blessing, man, don't worry about that."

"Uh, maybe you could teach me how to use a knife – you know, to throw it or even use it defensively?"

"Good idea, I'll talk to Ziva, she's our expert in cutlery and office equipment." Mitas laughed a little and then looked puzzled. "I'll tell you about the office equipment part later, when you know us better. So, we know we have goats, or a goat, that's good! I found the source of the water, it's a spring just up that way." Tim pointed back behind him. "On the way back here, I noticed some droppings that I think might be from chickens. So we can have eggs, fish, goat milk and fresh fruit, not bad! Now if we could only find a coffee tree or bush!"

Mitas gave him a puzzled look, still not quite understanding all the references to coffee. Tim thought that was one thing the newcomer should know sooner rather than later, might make his life easier, certainly would where Gibbs was concerned.

"Coffee is Gibbs' drug of choice, Mitas, that's the way we look at it. You never ever want to have Gibbs without coffee…or not going cold turkey, anyway. He can wean himself off with what you found on the boat and it won't be quite as bad. We hope."

As they were contemplating the spectacle of a coffee-less Gibbs and island feasts, the WT buzzed and Ziva announced they were heading back to the rendezvous point.

Gibbs and Ziva had headed off in the opposite direction of the others. They turned a bit east, hoping to find water and their chimney. Seeing the coconut palms, Gibbs relaxed a little, in a worst case scenario they would at least have coconut milk to drink and to tide them over from rain to rain. Ziva picked up a couple of the nuts and stashed them in their dive bag. They walked quietly, both keeping their eyes peeled for the water, a hole in the ground and anything else unusual. Gibbs saw prints first and thought they might be sheep or goat. Ziva, looking for more evidence of animals, found chicken scratches and bushes laden with berries and behind them, surrounded by rock, the chimney they'd been looking for.

Taking the longest palm frond they could find, they lowered it through the opening, leaving it there as a marker. Having heard from McGee about the stream and spring, they stopped to gather more coconuts and berries and some wood that looked like a pallet that had been torn apart.

They gathered enough wood for a cook fire, dropping it down the hole to the cavern. Gathering some small pieces of this and that, they clearly marked the way to the chimney, and then used their WT to let the other two know they were headed back to their meeting point. Once they rendezvoused with Tim and Mitas, they WT'd Ducky and Tony that they were on their way back to the cove. Ducky reported it had been quiet and they'd caught some fish for dinner.

The swim back was a little tougher with the two bags laden with coconuts and the full water jugs bouncing around in the waves, but soon all four were reunited with the fishermen. Ducky and Tony had already cleaned and gutted the fish, saving some of that in the small freezer for bait for the next meal. Knowing they were going to be living in that cavern and that it might be a couple of days before they were out in the sunshine again, they opted to cook and eat while still onboard.

Mitas had figured out how to grill on the small stovetop, so after rinsing off and changing into dry clothes loaned to him from the other men, he started dinner. Ducky insisted they have some vegetables, so Mitas opened a can of green beans and did something in a skillet with them, garlic, onions and more sliced up potatoes. The result was a delicious meal for which the group was suitably appreciative. Gibbs and Tim handled the clean up and once that was done, they watched the sunset and in the fading light, hauled anchor and motored back to their new temporary home.

The tide had come in after their return from the island, so once inside the cavern Gibbs was able to maneuver the boat a bit closer to the sandy beach. Lowering the anchor and killing the engine, the group began to move their belongings and everything they'd found on the boat over to dry land. Gibbs and Ziva remained aboard the boat passing items to Tim and Tony who stood knee deep in the water, passing things to Mitas and Ducky on shore.

Having bundled up the canned goods and leaving the refrigerated food on board for the moment, they first passed the mattresses, sheets and blankets, then their own bags, followed by the food and some of the items they'd found on board. Following Ducky and Gibbs' advice, they placed the mattresses on top of tarps found on the boat, so they weren't directly on the sand. That would help keep the damp and any critters hiding in the sand out of their beds.

Once they had everything they'd planned to remove for tonight's moving party, the next step was rather basic. Taking Ziva with him, Ducky found and designated two of the 'rooms' as 'waste stations', with the men understanding that the second, more secluded one was for Ziva's use only. Gibbs laughed to himself; he never would have thought that at his age he would be returning to 'latrine' duty.

They laid the mattresses out in a row towards the rear wall of the cavern where it was level; then Gibbs and Tony built a rock campfire pit in between their sleeping area and the beach. While Gibbs doubted the temperatures would ever dip too low, the damp was always going to be a problem and he understood the warmth a fire brought, especially in their circumstances. He knew Ducky was concerned for all three of his agents: Ziva because of her background in the desert terrain of Israel, Tim with his allergies, including mold, and Tony with his plague-scarred lungs. A campfire would be helpful for all three. As the two worked on the fire pit, Tim and Mitas wound their way through the cavern to the 'staircase' room and brought back the wood Gibbs & Ziva had thrown down.

Telling and showing Tony what he was doing at each step so he could learn how to build a fire, Gibbs took some of the paper trash from the boat, placed it just so in the bottom of the pit, added a few smaller pieces of the broken pallet as kindling and lit the paper. The kindling soon caught, wood was added and soon the fire was burning quite cheerily.

Everyone was tired that night, although relieved to have found a place to rest while they figured out how to get home. The stress of the last few days caught up with them and soon all but Ducky and Gibbs had crawled off to their beds. The two older men had not had a chance to catch up with each other and now they took the opportunity to do just that.

Gibbs knew Ducky was worried about his mother and Jimmy and both men were worried about Abby. There wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. They could only hope that Jimmy and Abby would help each other. Ducky was certain Jimmy would help his elderly and frequently confused mother, but he hated to think of the young man saddled with such a burden. His lady friend would help if she could but the two women were not close, these days his mother was violently opposed to any other woman in his life.

As far as any of them knew, Gibbs had no relatives but in truth, he had a father with whom he hadn't communicated in nearly 15 years. The estrangement was so strong that Gibbs did not even have him listed as his emergency contact or next of kin. His former boss, friend and mentor Mike Franks was listed on his paperwork as next of kin and DiNozzo had been his emergency contact since the younger man had joined his team.

He figured Mike would hoist a few cervezas in his honor and remember him when it rained without his roof leaking. He had a passing thought that maybe Mike would contact Abby and Jimmy. Tobias, too, he was local, although he didn't know Jimmy that well and was a little leery of Abby. He wished he'd left a letter for his girl, but he'd always thought Tim and Tony would be there for her. And Ziva, after Kate died.

He shook his head and told Ducky moping was not going to get them anywhere but forever stuck in their heads. Now that they had found shelter and water, they could concentrate on figuring out how to get home. The older man smiled at him gently and clapping him on the back, bid him good night.

Gibbs waited until the fire died down and then banked it for the night, idly wondering where the pallet that supplied the wood for their fire had come from. He supposed all kinds of things fell off ships, docks, and floated out to sea. How had goats and chickens gotten here? Remembering the Indian Ocean tsunami nearly four years before, he figured the animals and the pallets could have been swept here in that, or perhaps in another tsunami event. With a huff, he finished with the fire, crawled onto the only unoccupied mattress and was asleep in minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Day Three

First Full Day on the Island: Build the Staircase

Last to bed, first up, Gibbs woke at his usual 0500 to the sound of wavelets crashing on their beach; he had expected that. What he had not expected to hear was a rooster crowing, but he did. He peered around in the dim light and saw two shaggy heads he thought belonged to Ziva and Tim starting to lift from their beds. He knew neither Tony nor Ducky were particularly early risers, so he motioned his two younger agents to move quietly. Tim looked over at Tony, buried in a blanket and grinned. He had learned at least one useful thing from his father the naval officer: the advantages of being an 'early bird'.

Up and dressed, Ziva looked at the boat and the sandy shore. She wanted breakfast but didn't especially want to swim out to cook it. As she pondered, someone tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, Mitas was standing there with a large skillet and a bowl of eggs. He pointed toward the fire pit; Ziva now saw that Gibbs had re-built and lit the fire, and the barbecue grill they'd found was resting across the rocks, all ready for a skillet full of eggs and potatoes. She realized now that one of the last items brought from the boat had been a cooler and smiled happily at the cook.

Motioning to her, he quietly asked if he should make Gibbs coffee or if he should let the former Marine do it himself. She smiled, much better to let Gibbs do it. She asked if their one and only saucepan had made the trip to shore last night and when handed the one in question, filled it carefully with enough fresh water for 2 cups of tea and placed it on the side of the grill. Gibbs joined her at the fire and placed an old-fashioned aluminum coffeepot on the edge of the grill, making sure the hard rubber handle was pointed away from the heat. While they waited for their water and coffee, she asked her boss what the plan was for this new day.

"After breakfast, want to see how far we can get making our 'staircase' to the surface of the island. Sooner we get that done, sooner we can explore the rest of the island, see what resources we have and not feel penned up in here. We four are used to spending most of our waking hours together and even our sleeping hours too, but we're new to Mitas and Ducky is certainly used to some solitude. Think we'll all get along better if we get that done as quickly as possible. While we're working on that, we can kick around ideas for getting home."

"I have thought of making the boat into a sailboat, but we would need a mast, a way to secure it, rope and canvas for sail."

"Yeah, I thought of that too, Zeever, we'd have to really take a look at the craft, see if we can make any headway under sail or if it would just poke along like a barge."

"Of course, if our cell phones worked, we could call for a rescue."

"I've thought of a few things I can try. Good Morning, Ziva, Boss," Tim joined them at the fire. "I'll need to find the highest point on the island and get to work building solar chargers for the phones. Thinking there might be a way to bolster our signal strength."

"Solar chargers? You can do that?"

"Sure, they already exist, they're just not well known yet."

"And you know how?"

Tim grinned at his boss, "Not to brag, Boss but I own a patent on one that's on the market now."

Gibbs blinked back his surprise. "Won't you need a lot of…thingamajigs to put one together?"

"Some, maybe, I may have to cannibalize one of the phones or maybe my laptop. There's a lot of electronic equipment on board the boat, I might take some of that apart too. Don't worry, Boss, it won't be anything we need for the trip home if we end up traveling that way!"

"Radio's useless, single channel, could take that apart."

Tim pursed his lips, "Actually I might be able to rebuild that so it's useable or maybe redirect the one channel, but thought I'd concentrate on the phones first."

"You can do all that?"

"Yup, paid my way through grad school and it's still what I do in my spare time, Boss. I build and rebuild computers and other electronic devices."

"Huh, and here I thought you played games all night long."

Tim laughed, "Haven't played anything online except cards or Tetris in at least two years, Boss. Just didn't find it fun or relaxing anymore. Solving murders of real people by day and 'play' murdering virtual people at night; got so it seemed a bit twisted."

"But Maghee, I have heard you telling Tony about your scores and…"

"Yes, you have, Ziva. He believes that and it keeps his nose out of my real life, so if you would just not mention that to him?"

Gibbs barked a laugh; here he'd thought his junior agent was the ultimate geek. Turns out his Elf Lord is a builder just like him, only working with electronics instead of wood. Not only that, he'd managed to hide it from the nosiest man in the world for years, good for him.

He had a thought. "Are you the one that put together that alarm system for Ducky? The one even his mother can use?"

"Yep."

"What else have you done, Maghee?"

"Lots of things, Ziva."

"Is there more I do not know about you?"

"I'm sure there is, just as there's a lot about you, Boss, Ducky and Tony that we don't know. Just because we work together, Zee, doesn't mean we have to share every last thing. There is something called privacy."

"Amen to that, McGee." While they had been talking, the water boiled and the coffee perked. While Ziva's tea bag steeped, Gibbs stepped away and came back with a second cup, which he handed to Tim.

"Drink it black these days, right Tim? Noticed that."

"Yeah, but Boss, no, the coffee is just for you. Tony and I talked about it, we're fine going without."

"Appreciate it, but you forgot one thing, McGee."

"What's that?"

"I always travel with my own beans and this trip I have two 10- lb. bags with me that I'd just bought the morning we got the call out. If I cut back and use these smaller cups instead of the 12 oz.'er I usually have - and share with you two - we'll still have enough coffee for a few months."

"Wow, that's great, Boss, tell you the truth, we were a little worried. Yesterday when I saw the berry bushes, I started looking for coffee bushes too! So now we have to figure out exactly how much and make sure we get home before it runs out."

"I'd whack you for that but I don't want to discourage you from working to get us home!"

"Yes, Boss, thanks for the pass!"

Gibbs mock glared at him and realized that along with their private conversation on the boat the other day, these were the longest conversations he'd ever had with him, work related or not. Who knew the younger man was an inventor as well as a wiring whiz and builder of electronic gizmos! He wondered what else he would learn about him and grinned at the thought. As he enjoyed his coffee, Mitas looked at him with a questioning look. "Shall I start breakfast, Agent Gibbs, or wait until Dr. Mallard and Agent DiNozzo are up?"

"If you'll start cooking, Mitas, I guarantee DiNozzo will wake up, he'll follow food anywhere. I'll wake Ducky. And Mitas, it's just Gibbs, no need to be formal here."

"Yes si… Gibbs."

"Ziva tell you about that?"

"No, Tim did, said you're a former Marine Gunnery sergeant who hates being called 'Sir'."

"Damn straight, Mitas. I always tell people don't call me Sir, I work for a living." Mitas nodded at him then started his own work, making breakfast.

He took out a paring knife to start cleaning off the potatoes, only to find Tim standing next to him, offering to help.

"My father's a Navy man, Mitas; one of the first things I learned in the kitchen was how to do potatoes. Have a couple questions for you about the fresh food you found, when you have time."

"Sure, now's good. I can scramble eggs, slice 'taters and talk at the same time." Mitas started heating the pan as he handed the paring knife to McGee.

"Wondered how many whole potatoes are left and if I could have a few to plant? Garlic and onions, too. Are there tomatoes, oranges, or squash, anything with a seed?"

"There's a whole box of potatoes, so help yourself to what you need. There are several bulbs of garlic and even more onions and some of both have already started sprouting. As far as tomatoes, there are only two, and one is past eating, so you could have that one."

"Great, I can get some seedlings started and then plant them once we can get up top without using the boat. Anything else?"

The cook paused as he took the clean and scraped potatoes Tim handed him and sliced them into the skillet, then quickly put the lid back on.

"Saw a few oranges, limes and an apple. Oh, yeah, a yellow squash. Think that's about it. How are you going to keep the chickens and goats out? "

"Good question, need to see what's available as fencing, if anything."

While Mitas finished preparing their meal, Tim found the plates and cutlery. When the cook banged on the back of a pan, announcing breakfast, Tony's head popped right up out of the pile of blankets, giving his teammates a good chuckle. DiNozzo started to climb out of his nest when Gibbs remembered the unfortunate visitor during their trip to Guantanamo Bay and Tony's penchant for sleeping in the buff. He opened his mouth to stop him when he saw the man pause and root around his bed, finally digging up and pulling on a pair of sweat pants.

After breakfast and cleanup, this time by Ducky and DiNozzo, they sat around the fire pit to discuss the plans for the day. Gibbs started things off.

"Want to get that rock staircase built and secured as soon as possible. Then we start mapping the island, finding what resources we have and working on a way home. Have a couple of ideas already, need more and then we'll decide what works best. First idea is converting the boat to sail; we'll need a mast, a way to secure it to the boat and seaworthy material for a sail. Tim's also going to build solar chargers and work on bolstering signal strength on our cells. While we're building this thing, keep thinking of any other ideas." He paused, "Mitas, how are you at fishing?"

"Passable, Gibbs, I've been known to catch a few."

"Ok, you and Ducky are on fish patrol today, unless you have another idea for dinner tonight."

"There's meat in the refrigerator that's thawed by now, Gibbs, was planning on grilling that up tonight."

"Good man."

"Actually, Jethro I had an idea for the day."

"Yeah Duck?"

"While you lot are building the stair case, Ziva and I or Mitas and I could take the boat out and take a turn around the island. We've only seen the eastern side and that one cove on the north end. It would be helpful to have an idea of what the coastline looks like from the water."

Ziva opened her mouth to protest that she could certainly help in the build, when Ducky continued, "and then I could also teach whichever of them how to pilot the boat, we'll need all of us to know if we're to sail home."

Gibbs grunted and then looked at a thoughtful Ziva and an unconcerned Mitas. "Ok, Ziva, there's another advantage if you go with Ducky, not only will you learn to pilot, but you can apply your unique perspective to how best to secure and if necessary, defend ourselves here."

Ziva nodded, "Yes, Gibbs; Ducky, I understand, that is fine. I will apply my Mossad skills to defense of the island."

At the mention of Mossad, Mitas' jaw tried to drop to the sand. "You're….you're Mossad, th…the Israeli Mossad?"

"Yes, I am liaison officer between NCIS and Mossad."

Mitas blinked rapidly several times and jumped when Gibbs tapped him on the shoulder. "It's all right, man, she's with us; we trust her."

Mitas just nodded; an alarmed look still in his eyes. Trying not to laugh at his obvious fear, the others went to clean up and start their work.

Surveying the room and the stacks, they used Tim's math skills, Gibbs' building skills and Tony's keen eye for detail as they sketched out a rough drawing of their rock climb or staircase. Then they started organizing the rocks and boulders, getting the bottom layer laid out in a wide and lengthy platform to support the climb. That took the longest, getting that to the right proportions to provide proper support.

As careful as they tried to be, their hands were cut and bruised by midday when they stopped for a meal, water and a rest. They soaked their hands in seawater before they ate, relieving some of their hurts. Gibbs' hands weren't cut as much as bruised and they ached. Seeing the man's discomfort, Mitas heated a pan of seawater, poured in a little Epsom salt he'd found and gestured to Gibbs to sit and soak his hands. Grateful for Mitas' ministrations while also decrying the need for them, Gibbs gave in and let the warm water soothe him.

After they ate, Tim went to his bag and dug out his gym socks, pulling a pair on over his hands. They had already tried using their disposal crime scene gloves for working with the rocks. Those, it seemed, were meant to avoid disturbing a crime scene or contaminating evidence and keeping one's hands out of questionable fluids, not for lifting, toting and stacking jagged rocks. The rocks just ate right through them, and wearing more than one pair at a time only slowed down the rocks a little bit.

Tony saw what he was doing and grinned at Gibbs. "Tube socks! See, Probie loves them too, Boss!"

Gibbs just shook his head; it wasn't a bad idea; it wouldn't help his aching hands but might stop the cuts the three younger men were experiencing. After a rest, and making sure that all of them had plenty of water to drink, they went back to it, all four of them wearing socks as gloves on their hands.

By late afternoon, they heard the boat's engine entering the cavern and Gibbs called a halt for the day. They looked at their work, sizing up what still needed to be done. They were nearly three quarters of the way to the chimney and were satisfied that the staircase was sturdy, having tested it by climbing up and down several times. It was a massive thing; a small mountain of rock they were building, stylized to a very rough staircase shape, rather like three-quarters of a small pyramid. With the growing height of the beast, they were slowed by having to haul rock up to whichever two were taking their turn on the top of the heap. Progress was progress, however, and all were pleased.

Tim disappeared and returned with their digital camera, which had been fully charged on the boat. Now he took photos of the work in progress, coaxing his boss and the others up onto the rough steps for photos. When Ducky and Ziva, having dried and changed, arrived for a viewing, they insisted on taking another photo with all four men perched on the steps. They were filthy and still wore their 'sock-gloves' but smiling as they perched on their masterpiece.

The four were exhausted and nearly dragged themselves back to their common area at the front of the cavern. Tony, eyeing the cool water, gave Tim an "I dare you" look. Tim was just tired enough to drop his inhibitions and both men stripped down to their skivvies and ran yelling into the water. Mitas paused to watch them, and then with a small shrug, followed them into the water at a more dignified pace. Gibbs stood silently for a minute and then laughing, stripped and followed him in.

Ducky and Ziva watched the four, laughing at the antics of the two younger agents as their giggles echoed off the cavern walls. Turning from watching the crazy pair, they dug out what towels and drying-off material they could find and stacked it in a pile on the beach. After starting the fire, Ducky put on a pot of water for tea and Ziva made a pot of coffee for Gibbs. Turning back toward the water, Ducky saw Mitas reaching the boat and starting to climb up.

"Mitas, dear boy, if you're going to fetch the meat for dinner, we've already brought it over, as well as some potatoes, that yellow squash and oranges for dessert." Mitas turned with a smile and a wave of thanks, dropped back into the water.

Once all were out, dried and changed, Mitas started dinner. Along with the grilled steak, they would again have green beans, this time mixed with canned corn and slices of the yellow squash, sautéed with some of the olive oil and seasonings they'd found on board. Gibbs insisted on baked potatoes; these Mitas first cut in half, inserted garlic cloves and onions, wrapped them in foil and placed them in the fire pit to roast.

Over dinner, Ziva and Ducky filled them in on their findings.

"The island is nearly 6 miles long, about a half a mile wide at the northern end where we were yesterday and nearly three quarters of a mile wide at the southern end."

Ducky chimed in, "Yes, we found 2 additional coves and a lovely bay on the western side of the island and an absolutely stunning beach at the southwestern edge. What astounded us both was the amount of debris or flotsam we saw trapped in the coves."

Ziva picked up the report, "It seems many things have been washed here and are floating in the coves. I believe that is how the animals must have gotten here."

"What kind of things, could you tell?"

"We saw crates, boxes and pallets and car tires and even what looked to be the top of a shovel. There is no telling what is actually there until we can go through them."

"Maybe there's food, you know more canned goods, fuel for the boat."

Tim leaned forward and slapped Tony on the back, "You never know, DiNozzo, might be a crate of your hazelnut creamer in there somewhere. I'm hoping for batteries, maybe some seeds, books, oh and sunscreen – or dorky hats for everyone!"

Gibbs gave his wish list, "Leather gloves, more wood and nails."

Mitas even had an item or two, "A real barbecue, hot pads, another skillet."

Ducky had only one item he wanted, "Chairs."

Ziva rolled her eyes, "I suppose some additional clothing would be nice, and shoes," She giggled, "and a bathtub."

Laughing at themselves, they quieted as Ziva and Ducky continued their report. "There are all kinds of trees toward the southern end of the island. Not just palm, but also what looked to be pine, fir, perhaps spruce. And lots of goats and chickens, there does not seem to be any lack of them."

"Yes, we were conjecturing there may not be any natural predator here for them."

Gibbs smirked, "There is now."

Tim spoke up, "I have some ideas about the animals, guys, but that can wait until tomorrow."

DiNozzo snarked at him, "What, McGoatherder, you're going to teach the goats how to swim and tow the boat home for us?"

McGee snarked right back, "Yeah, that's it, Tony, and you'll be the lead goat, riding out there with them. I can just see your triumphant return riding a goat up the Anacostia."

Before Gibbs could reach either for a headslap, the one looked at the other and they collapsed onto each other, giggling rather hysterically. Multiple glares from their boss and the others finally stopped them and they sat quietly, although occasionally one's shoulders would shake and set off the other one.

Ducky knew exhaustion when he saw or rather heard it. "You lot are exhausted, this can certainly wait until morning, Jethro."

Gibbs, trying mightily to stifle his own yawns, nodded in appreciation.

"Sorry guys, guess we're too tired to listen tonight."

"It's quite all right, my friend, we saw what you four accomplished today. You've certainly earned your exhaustion."

Gibbs threw a stern look at his two errant agents. "You two, off to bed, now and no talking!"

Tony threw him a sloppy salute, "Yes, Dad. 'Night all."

Tim had been trying very hard not to laugh, but Tony's salute and calling the boss 'Dad' did him in; he snorted himself into more giggles.

Tony grabbed him by the back of his neck, "C'mon Probie, before you get us into more trouble." Tim tried to sputter a response as Tony dragged him off to their beds. Mitas followed them, carefully remaining several steps behind.

Gibbs shook his head, turning to see the big grins on Ducky and Ziva's faces. "What?"

"I have never seen Maghee act like that, so…carefree. Almost as if he were drunk and we know he does not drink much."

"She's right, Jethro, that was a treat to see Tim let go like that, first with the swimming and now with his laughter. Although I would say, he was more child-like than drunk. Very much enjoying himself."

Gibbs smirked, "He did kind of let go, didn't he? I haven't heard him giggle like that since his first year on the team. Remember Kate and Tim giggling one late night."

"Yes and I'm glad to see it. The boy is entirely too serious."

Gibbs gave Ducky a look and both men subsided, thinking of Tim. Ducky's thoughts were on events in recent years while Gibbs was pondering about his young agent and both were thinking of Tim's childhood miseries.

Ziva caught the look and wondered what it meant. Although she had researched the entire team for Ari, she had not done more than a cursory look at their childhoods. She knew that Tim had lived with his grandparents, but did not know why. She did know more of his history as an adult. Mentally she shrugged, it did not matter, whether she knew or did not know, none of it was her business; she enjoyed her teammate and friend just as he was.

Rising, she said, "Although I am not as exhausted as the others, I think I too shall sleep well tonight. Good night, Ducky, Gibbs."

"Good night, my dear."

"'Night, Zeever."

As they had the previous night, the two old friends lingered by the fire, idly chatting. Laughing, Gibbs promised Ducky the two of them would take the boat and go off fishing one day, letting the younger set see to themselves.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Jethro, as much as we think of them as such, they are not children but fully grown adults!"

At Gibbs' eye roll, Ducky added, "With perhaps more sense than you give them credit for. After all, as you are fond of saying, they would not be on your team if they were not the best."

"You're right, Ducky and I am proud of them. I'm sure I wasn't the cranky old man I am now when I was Tim's age, or even Tony's!"

"No, well, you were just about Anthony's current age when we met, Jethro and we did have some laughs ourselves if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, we did Duck, we sure did! I like to see those two getting along like they're starting to; think they'll be good friends for as long as we've been?"

"I should say so, dear boy, just remember we've had our ups and downs."

"Yeah, we're just not as public with our disagreements as those two."

"They don't have to be discreet now. Wait until Anthony has a team of his own and Timothy is his Senior Field Agent or his Director, years on. They will keep their skirmishes out of the public eye then, you can count on that!"

"Duck, you have the same goals for them as I do. Just hope we're around to see that!"

"I too, Jethro, though I fear you have a better chance than I do."

"Buck up, old man, you know you'll outlive us all!"

"I sincerely hope not, Jethro, I cannot imagine a more painful future than to live beyond all my loved ones." Gibbs reached out and gave his old friend a gentle squeeze to his shoulder.

"Ah, I'm sorry, dear boy, I remain worried about Mother."

"I know you do, Duck, wish I could make that worry go away."

"Just get us home in not too long a time, Jethro. That's all I can ask."

Patting his friend on the shoulder, Ducky pulled himself to his feet and headed off to bed. Gibbs stayed long enough to bank the fire and then he too went to his bed and some much-needed rest.

* * *

A/N:

Flotsam: floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; _broadly_ **:** floating debris.

Jetsam: _broadly_: floating objects that are thrown into the water from a ship.

(Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Day Four: Building a Pyramid, Exploring the Island

Last down, first up at 0500, Gibbs was up and stretching, after he got the fire, coffee and tea water going of course. His body was a little sore, his hands stiff and still achy; he resolved to ask Ducky for something after breakfast. He was bound and determined to finish that staircase today and start to explore the island, not just for survival and comfort but also for anything that could help them get home. He did stop to think that the tires Ziva and Ducky had spotted in the coves could be made into some sort of chair, if there were enough of them. The group, already settled into a new routine, gathered much as they had the day before and was soon enjoying their breakfast. While Mitas was asking if anyone knew how to milk a goat and maybe make goat cheese, Gibbs quietly asked Ducky for something for his hands. Ducky nodded and after they finished eating, took a walk back to the older man's medical bag. He handed Gibbs a mild pain reliever. He advised Gibbs to soak his hands again, but this time to soak both before and after their work. Then, grinning, he decided to check the other men's cuts and bruises, knowing they would fight him but privately appreciate the help. While Tony and Ziva cleaned up after breakfast, Ducky took a look first at Mitas' hands and then Tim's.

Mitas' were not badly cut, but they were bruised and Ducky gave him the same advice he'd given Gibbs. Next was Tim and his long fingers were rather colorful, having gotten pinched between rocks. Ducky shook his head and gave Timothy an aspirin to help the mild pain he knew he was experiencing. When Tony tried to sidle past him to the staircase room, Ducky caught him and chuckled as he led him to the rock where he'd examined the others. His hands were rather more cut up than the others were but the cuts looked clean and had started healing. Catching Gibbs' eye as he returned from soaking his hands, Ducky spoke loudly enough for all to hear. "Each of you should continue with your 'sock gloves' again today. And you will soak your hands afterwards. Ziva, I'm beginning to join you in wishing for that bathtub!"

While the most difficult part of the work had been done the previous day, they still had many rocks to haul up the staircase to the two workers carefully placing each new step. Having not worn herself out the day before as her co-workers had, Ziva helped form a human assembly line to pass the rocks up. Gibbs had tried to stop Ducky from working on the project at all, but the old doctor was plenty stubborn and drawing on a colorful pair of argyle socks, helped find the right pieces at ground level and pass them up. With all hands on deck as it were, the work went quickly and before Gibbs could call for a break, the last step was in place. Ziva was at the top and called down, "Permission to step up, Gibbs?"

"Wait for Tim, Ziva." Tim seemed to be in his element on the rock. Ducky, watching him, thought it was more the confidence he felt than any change in his coordination or mobility. Once Tim reached Ziva, she pushed through and stepped onto the surface of the island, quickly moving away. Tim followed and also moved quickly away from the hole in the ground.

Before the others followed, Gibbs called a halt, sending Tony back to their secured spot for their weapons. Although they had seen no sign of other humans or predatory animals, he wasn't about to start taking chances now. Tony also lugged back the 2 empty water jugs and their gear packs, which each of the field agents had emptied earlier in anticipation of needing them up top.

As Tony climbed the stairs behind Mitas he could hear Ziva and Tim talking above him. It was a strange sensation but one he thought would prove handy in guard duty, if any strangers happened by the island they could be heard below. The entrance to their staircase formerly known as a hole in the ground, could easily be disguised with palm fronds and rocks. He passed Mitas the water jugs and two of the gear packs; Mitas in turn passed them up to Tim. Then both men climbed up into daylight. Ducky was next and Gibbs last.

Once all were above ground, they moved away from the entrance, turning to look at it. The surrounding area was solid rock, there did not seem to be much danger of further cave-in, but having grown up in a coal-mining town, Gibbs knew better. He made some quick rules about use of the staircase; one of them being that they were to keep an eagle eye on the area surrounding the entrance. He told them some of the signs of deterioration and showed them the best ways to protect themselves if caught in a rock slide or cave-in. Then, with DiNozzo practically dancing in the sunshine, the Team Leader decided further discussion could wait until the evening's campfire.

They split into three groups today and Tony passed out their weapons, Sigs for the four field agents, a Beretta for Ducky and lastly, to a wide-eyed Mitas, one of Ziva's knives. WTs were also handed out, one to a team. The empty backpacks and dive bags came last, along with the empty water jugs, still wearing their rope yokes. Each pack had food and water for that team and Tim's team had custody of the sunscreen, although Ducky insisted Tim himself wear the folding hat. The others wore their NCIS caps; Tim's was perched on Mitas' head and Ducky wore his ever-present tan slouchy hat. Tim had already slathered his arms in sunscreen and now Ducky directed the others to do the same, along with the backs of their necks. If Ducky hadn't pre-warned him that he was going to insist, Gibbs would have resisted. Now, having to set a good example, he glaringly dabbed the stuff on him.

Before the teams took off, Gibbs reminded them to meet at the top of the bay in four hours, and they would go from there to the beach. He also reminded them they needed wood for the fire and fish for dinner, there was fishing line & a baited hook in the outer pocket of each pack. They could pile the wood along the side of the path, to be collected on the way back. Mitas had found a few whistles in a box and each team had one of those in case a low-tech signal was called for.

Tim's team, with Ziva as guide, was assigned the first cove. Gibbs' team, with Ducky, was headed for the second cove. Tony's team, with Mitas, was headed to the bay to explore.

The group walked together toward the first cove. Tim was thinking about the water jugs and how fast hauling them was going to get old, bringing the jugs full of water back from the springs to the stairs and then climbing down. They either needed more containers to move more at a time or a big long hose and a water pump.

When he chuckled at his own thoughts, Ziva looked at him, questioning. "I was just adding a very long hose and a pump to the 'flotsam' wish list, Zee. Hauling water back from the spring to the staircase is going to get old, especially if we find your bathtub!"

Ziva laughed with him, and then slowed, thinking. "If we do not find that equipment, Tim, I believe I have a partial solution. Throughout history, desert dwellers have built cisterns to hold water near their homes and so have only to travel as far as the cistern for their daily use. Yes, someone would have to fill the cistern, but if it were large enough, that would only need to happen once a week. Then the water jugs would only have to travel to the top of the staircase."

"That's good, Ziva, that actually sounds more practical than the non-existent hose and water pump! Although if we did find a hose…" He quieted, following his thought.

Ziva finished it for him, "If we find a hose that is long enough for the staircase, we can fill the cistern and then have something on the hose to turn on and off, like a faucet?"

"Yeah, sort of, I'm sure Gibbs could cobble together some sort of valve for the hose, so we'd use gravity to bring the water from the cistern through the hose to the cavern. All right, Ziva, we have a solution!"

"Yes, but first we must find a hose and the material to build a cistern."

As they had been walking, they had piled some pieces of wood off to the side and the others had gathered more coconuts to be picked up later. Ziva, remembering the sweet taste of fresh coconut milk, tucked one away in her pack.

As they reached the first cove, the entire group stopped and helped locate the most likely way down, then moved large rocks to mark the path. They waited until Tim and Ziva were out of sight before continuing on.

As Tony walked on with Mitas, he found he was very uneasy about leaving his teammates behind. Yes, they'd been out of touch before, on the first island and now this one, but this was somehow different and bothering him while the other separations had not. Of course he'd been on the boat with Ducky both those times and they would have been the ones to come to the rescue.

Now they were on their own and he was with Mitas whom he barely knew. Looking ahead, he could see the next cove coming up; he took a deep breath, knowing Gibbs and Ducky would soon disappear down a path. Gibbs looked back at him, frowning at what he saw in DiNozzo's eyes, almost a panicked look. Murmuring to Ducky, Gibbs waited for his SFA and their new addition to catch up.

"DiNozzo, Ducky says the bay is just around that next bend, see there?" Gibbs pointed ahead.

"Yeah Boss."

"Tell you what, when you get down into that bay, why don't you call us on the WT, make sure the things work out this far?"

"Sure Boss, good idea."

"And Mitas, you know that knife is for defensive purposes only, although if you need to cut down some coconuts or hold a chicken hostage while you get some eggs…don't hesitate."

At that both younger men smiled and Gibbs nodded, giving both light shoulder pats.

"Mitas, another thing you should know, Tony's a good man, I only have the best on my team. He'll make sure the two of you meet us at the beach, safe and sound. So now, go, enjoy yourselves while we find Ducky a chair!"

All three laughed at that and the two younger men repeated the actions from the first cove, wait until a path is found, mark it well and then wait until the other team is out of sight.

"C'mon Mitas, let's get down to our bay and see what's there. You watch a lot of movies? I've been thinking about castaway movies all week, you know, like Tom Hanks in "Castaway" and that old movie Gibbs mentioned, "Swiss Family Robinson" or even Robinson Crusoe, have you seen any of those?"

DiNozzo finally realizing his companion was easily twice as freaked out as he was, kept up a steady patter about deserted island and beach movies. Stopping to pile some wood and fruit along the way, they quickly found the entrance to the bay and made a large pile of rocks and a boulder to mark their way down.

XXX

As Tim and Ziva carefully climbed the narrow goat trail down to the cove, the sound of the others' talking lessened and disappeared.

Tim looked back at Ziva, grinning, "Just you and me and a mile of debris, Ziva! We can scavenge to our heart's content, it's all free."

She looked at him, astonished, "Maghee, you are looking forward to this! You like going through junk?"

"Not usually, no, but this isn't necessarily junk, Zee. This could be anything from trash to chairs for Ducky or a bathtub for you. The currents could have spun all kinds of things here from all over the world, I suppose. Oh," he stopped, frowning and then rolling his shoulders, looking away from his teammate, "there could be things here from the Indian Ocean tsunami. I hadn't thought of that."

"Ducky and I talked about it yesterday, Tim. Not only flotsam, there could be human and animal remains as well. Although they would just be bones by now. Ducky said if there is a skeleton that we need to call him, he'd want to determine if the person died where his or her body was found. He also said that if there are bones, the only thing we can do is bring them up with us and try to either bring them home with us or alert the authorities along the tsunami route if we leave them here."

Tim was silent for a long moment and Ziva's heart, knowing what she did from her dossier on the team, ached for him. Finally, he spoke, with a catch in his voice.

"If we have to leave them here on the island, Ziva, then we'll bury them and mark the graves."

"You are right my friend."

Tim continued to work his way down the path, trying to shake off his melancholy, "Ok, watch out, that rock is slippery. Almost down now, to the leading edge of the debris. Let's mark the trail entrance so we don't have to swim back."

Ziva knew Tim was trying to lighten the mood and she played right along with him, "That would be unfortunate as these are my last clean clothes."

"Well, we'll just have to find you some new ones, then. Huh, and a sink to wash in and detergent."

"We have rather a long list of items we are hoping for now, yes?"

"And getting longer, yep!" Tim came to a sudden halt and held up his hand to Ziva. "Look there, what do you see on the top of that pile…your 1:00?"

"It is…Tim, it is a big metal round thing; I do not know what it is in English."

"We'll call it a tub, Ziva, but it might be our cistern or our wash tub for clothes or even to bathe in, although it would be a standing tub, not a sitting one. C'mon, let's get it down from there; if we put it here on the beach, we can pile other things in it. Or," He looked at her, mischief in his eyes, "if we find something to paddle with, we could float it back to the boat!"

She opened her mouth to protest and then saw that he was teasing her. Carefully climbing on the debris pile and using a broom handle she found they managed to coax the large metal tub, about four feet in diameter, down onto the lower levels and then onto the beach.

"Yay us; the first thing we find is something useful!"

"And I have spotted a second useful thing, Tim, look to your right, your 4:00, is that not a chair of some sort?"

"Think maybe it's a bench, Zee, but yep, just as useful." Tim did the climbing for that one and once he passed the bench to Ziva, he stopped to look around him. There was a large gift box, such as would be used for a robe or a ladies' dress nearby and he took the broom handle from Ziva and sort of batted it over to him.

"Let's see what's in here, Zee, looks like a new clothes box to me, maybe it's something one of us can use or we can use for a sail."

He passed the box to Ziva who opened it finding a pair of women's jeans, denim top and jacket. The size would be a little big on her, but she could make do. "Clothes for me, thank you, Timothy!"

"Huh, we'll all need some of those pretty soon, Zee, let's see what else we've got."

Digging around, trying to keep an eye out for bigger items, the pair found a large box of high priced sneakers of all sizes. Ziva carted that along with her new outfit up to the metal tub. The boxes would be good for burning if not for storing.

While Tim was moving to the next pile, he found and opened a box of camping merchandise and realized there could be some useful items inside. It was fairly light, so calling out to Ziva; he tossed the box onto the beach. He noticed he'd dislodged a huge box and it was slowly sliding toward the water. He managed to grab a corner of it and was surprised at the lack of weight. Cutting open a corner, he cheered. When Ziva looked up, he laughed and said "Toilet paper, Ziva, lots and lots of toilet paper."

She chuckled and helped him move it to the shore. It wasn't very heavy but it was bulky.

Having moved the toilet paper, Tim climbed back up on his perch and called out as he spied a bale of chicken wire, "Ziva, now I can make a garden! Might need your help with this one."

Ziva climbed over to him and using their handy broom handle, they maneuvered the large bale of chicken wire down to the bottom level of the pile, then climbing down and using the handle as a lever, pushed it up onto the beach.

Their next find was a carton of plastic storage tubs, complete with lids. Tim dug out eight of them and left the rest for later. After that was a suitcase full of clothes. When they opened it, they found it full of men's clothes, including underwear, jeans, socks and shirts. While they had not been ruined by seawater, the items definitely needed washing. They looked for a tag on the suitcase, but any identification was long gone. Holding up the trousers, they saw the length might be good for Mitas.

Tim turned away, once again fighting his emotions. Ziva was on the verge of revealing her knowledge but was not sure it would be welcomed. To his motionless back, Ziva said, "Remember many people also survived the tsunami, Tim, although their belongings were carried away. Let us consider that is what happened to the owner of these. And wherever he is, I am sure he would not mind if his clothes were put to good use by six strangers."

Tim smiled sadly at her, "You're right, Zee, I'm sure he wouldn't."

Working steadily, they uncovered as much as they could, leaving what had been destroyed, wrestling the useful items to the beach. Along with the bench, they found three folding padded patio chairs, their padding still intact, and a large bolt of fabric that Tim thought might be sailcloth. While he wrestled that to shore, Ziva found a large carton, opened it far enough to peek in and with a bemused look, picked it up without unpacking it and set it on the shore.

Tim was curious but then he spotted a box of electronic equipment, all of it too ruined for its intended use but Tim brought some of it to the beach as he thought of the components, fasteners, wire, etc., he might need for some of his ideas.

As he continued to dig and pull and open, Ziva called out to him, "Tim, look at these."

They both laughed as she showed him hat after hat no doubt meant for the souvenir market, all quite colorfully decorated, large enough to keep head and neck covered, enough of them for each member of their group and each one dorkier than the next.

"Zee, I think we should pass those along to Ducky and have him hand them out!"

"Excellent idea!"

Still snickering, the two returned to work. Moving several boxes out of the way, Tim discovered an overturned rowboat, righting it, he discovered a word painted inside. Most of the paint had been eaten away however Ziva was able to decipher the language of the word as Thai and that it was probably a name. Swallowing, Tim just kept working. A short time later, Ziva discovered a kayak, still buoyant in the water and supporting a car door and two structural window frames. When they moved the other items, a shoe floated out from the interior of the kayak, and they stopped for a quiet moment, paying their respects to the owners of the shoe and the rowboat, both likely lost to the fury of Mother Nature.

Before they realized it, two hours had passed and they had a huge collection of goods on the beach, stashed uphill from the waterline. Surveying their pile, they decided to make a start bringing the most needed items up the path, making multiple trips. They quickly decided the three chairs and bench were necessary as well as the smallest metal tub that could be used for dishes, laundry or washing themselves. Bringing that meant also bringing some of the metal buckets they'd found, with these they could supplement the 4 water jugs and heat water on their grill. They'd also found a few plastic buckets and they brought those up too, thinking they could be useful. Tim had a quick thought before he packed up the plastic pails and opened the camping box, found just what he had hoped for and threw the small boxes into the stack of pails.

The hats, clothes, soap, socks, and towels could be stuffed in their packs. Then they had the same idea at the same time as, laughing at themselves, they pulled out the plastic storage boxes and filled them with the clothes and other lightweight items. They did stuff the leather gloves they hoped would fit Gibbs into Tim's pack. They each took a pair of sneakers; then giggling, they dumped the whole box into another one of the storage tubs. They figured the boat and the kayak could be floated or towed around to the cavern, they'd have to figure out the logistics later. It was not happening today, at any rate.

They started packing items up the hill, as efficiently as they could and made a nice sized dent in their pile. Belatedly remembering that goats were rumored to eat nearly anything, including cloth, shoes and wire, Tim checked their remaining pile and spent several minutes pulling wire and fasteners from the ruined electronics. Those he stashed in his pack. They packed the flour, sugar and labeled cans uphill in another plastic tub, but left a partially eaten bag of rice behind. Tim thought if the goats didn't eat it now when it was more accessible, he might bring it back later, to dry out any usable electronics or to feed the chickens.

Thinking about the fabric, he and Ziva each took an end of the bolt and hauled it up the path. He did not want to lose that to the goats. Ziva's mystery box and the huge box of toilet paper also made it to the top of the path. He realized they had not found any rope and hoped Gibbs and Ducky had. There were vines on the island they could use but he didn't know how well they would hold up. He also grabbed a box full of seed packets, gloves and trowel that he'd uncovered, apologizing to whomever it had been meant as a gift. It would certainly be a gift for all of them if he were successful with the seeds.

* * *

A/N: From the research I've done, the amount of flotsam our friends are finding could happen. Our oceans are full of our 'stuff' whether through the fury of Mother Nature or the carelessness of humanity. Throughout the West Coast of the US, we are still finding items from the tragic earthquake in Japan in 2011.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Day Four: Cove Two

While Team 1 was busy with their finds, Team 2, Gibbs and Ducky, were having just as much fun, in their own sort of way, going through everything. Ducky was delighted with a box of sheets which Gibbs thought odd until he was told they could be used for bandages, washcloths, curtains, personal hygiene, even clothing if it came down to it. Gibbs had to stop and think about personal hygiene and then realized Ziva was going to need some things. Shuddering and glad Ducky hadn't been specific, Gibbs uncovered a carton full of jeans of all sizes and picked through, bringing back enough for each of them. He also found a carton full of hardware items and didn't even bother unpacking it, just manhandled it up onto the beach. Ducky gave a shout out when he opened a box; Gibbs looked over as his friend tilted the box and showed him an entire box of tube socks. Gibbs grinned, still hoping for his leather gloves. He laughed to himself,

"Hey Duck, when we leave here, this is going to be the best supplied deserted island no one's ever heard of!"

"I believe you're right there, Jethro, look at what else I've found!"

Ducky pointed to the top of a nearby pile, as yet untouched, and Gibbs chuckled as he recognized a kitchen sink.

"Not hauling that back! Geez, Duck, I was hoping we'd find some toilet paper and I don't know, buckets or something we can use instead of squatting."

"Yes, my friend, I had the same thought. We'd still have to bury the waste but at least we could control where."

"There's a chemical sold in camping stores, I've never tried it, but I bet Tim might know about it; it's supposed to dissolve 'stuff'."

"Yes, I know what you mean and that would be a very useful find, Jethro."

As they spoke, Jethro spied a bit of rope peeking out from under a very large pile and he called Ducky over to help him rescue it. "Rope, Duck, we should never be without rope!"

"This is rather a large pile, Jethro, have you not seen any other rope around?"

"Nope and we need it. If we end up making a mast and sail, they're no good without rope. Just everyday use, we could use a rope pulley to move things up and down our staircase, Duck."

"Oh my yes, that would be quite useful, Jethro. Very well, heave to."

With that Ducky, to the utter astonishment of his old friend, shoved a large black container to the side. Gibbs held up his hand, "Wait, Duck, we may as well see what's in here; I can't believe you just shoved it."

"Well really, Jethro, how did you think we were going to move it? Not pick it up, I hope?"

"No, but you never cease to amaze me, old man."

"We'll see who the old man here is, my friend!" While they were bantering, Gibbs had his lock picks out and was able to pick through the rust on the padlock, get it open and off the container. Rather than throw it away, he set it down on their pile, thinking it might come in handy at some point.

Ducky rolled his eyes at him, "My God, man, you can't take everything back with you; the cavern is only so big!"

"Oh fine, the lantern for which we have no fuel and the ruined painting are ok, but not the padlock." Gibbs snorted as they gibed at each other, enjoying the day and each other's company.

As he pried the top of the black container open with the small pry bar he'd brought along, he noticed his friend was just as curious as he was. Inside were many boxes; perhaps this had been someone's shipping container. Opening one box, they found an assortment of herbs and Ducky hummed as he reached for the ginger root.

"That what Tim takes for his seasickness?"

"Yes and it has had a beneficial side effect as well, his digestive system, usually a bit tricky, is behaving quite well."

Gibbs leaned on the container, with a question he'd wanted to ask Ducky since they first met Timothy McGee.

"Duck why does he have so many allergies, do you know?"

"Yes I do. I suppose it's ok that I tell you, Jethro, since it is a matter of public record. He was born 10 weeks early and we know now that children born prematurely frequently have compromised or problematic immune systems as adults. Timothy is actually lucky that his problems manifested themselves as allergies and ones that can be easily managed. It could be worse!"

"Is that also the reason for his digestive problems, which I didn't even know about until just now?"

"Yes, it is. He's learned more about maintaining his health and what he can do to help himself. He is now quite careful with what he eats. For instance, those sprinkles that he blows off his doughnuts in the mornings? His system can only tolerate a very few ounces of those, but they are not sold that way, so he picks them off. "

"DiNozzo's always on him about that. I should…" Ducky jumped right in on that, "No, you should do nothing, Jethro, I happen to know that Tim delights in annoying Anthony with the sprinkles – and the huffing on the coffee, every morning."

"Huh. Whatever floats their boats, eh Duck!" By that time, Gibbs had dug out several more boxes from the black container. Rather than opening them, he placed them on the beach, figuring they could haul them back and open them later. None of the boxes were very heavy. At the bottom of the container, however, he struck pay dirt. There was a large metal flat bed wagon on wheels, the type seen at home improvement centers.

"Looky what I got, Duck, we can haul some of this stuff up the hill with this."

"As long as we have the rope to tie it all on, Jethro."

Gibbs smirked, of course the rope. After managing to turn the black container on its side, the two men were able to pry, push and prod the wagon out of it and Ducky took it up to the beach. Gibbs patted the container, he was sure he could think of a good use for it. All that metal, maybe he could…

"Jethro, you _cannot_ bring that thing back with us. What were you thinking of, anyway?"

"Don't know, Duck, just that it's a lot of sturdy metal, if we convert the boat to sail, that metal would be a great floor plate to secure the mast."

"That's different, let's put it up on the beach and the young ones can fetch it later."

"Like your thinking, Dr. Mallard."

"Glad to oblige, Agent Gibbs."

Incredibly, underneath the black container, they found the front half of a small car. Jethro eyed the seats and the two front wheels until Ducky pulled him away.

"Stop man, you're after the rope! The car will still be here! But I see yes, that the bench seat might be good around the fire pit."

"Hmm, yeah. Ok, there's the rope." Both men sighed in disappointment as the rope proved to be only about twenty feet long and partially burned.

"Ah well, shall we take what there is?"

"I 'spose." Gibbs was quite upset about the rope, but forgot about that when he spotted a large coil of hose. It looked like the kind used by firefighters and pulling it up Gibbs estimated it was nearly a hundred feet long. Smiling happily, he coiled it back up and put it on the wagon. Turning back to where the hose had been, he was absolutely astounded at what he was seeing under the water near where the hose had been and yelled for Ducky, nearly giving the older man a heart attack. "Great God in Heaven, Gibbs, what on earth is the matter, you frightened me with your bellow!"

"Sorry, Duck, look at this."

"What…why it's a hot tub, Jethro, looks complete, look the factory seals, or at least one of them, is still intact."

"Heard Tim and Ziva talking today, Duck, about building a cistern, near the entrance to the staircase. Fill the cistern from the spring once a week and then either use buckets or a hose to transport it down to us. I just found a fire hose, think that would do it, I'd just have to figure out a valve so we can operate it more or less like a faucet."

"That's brilliant, man!"

"Not me, it was Tim and Ziva's idea. He was hoping to find a water pump and a really long hose, Ziva told him about the cisterns they use in the desert."

"How will we get it back to the entrance?"

Gibbs laughed, "The beauty of this, Duck, is that it's not our problem! We'll just show them the hose; tell them about the hot tub and see what they figure out. As you're always telling me, let them think things through for themselves."

Gibbs patted the hot tub fondly and turned away, only to spot a bicycle half buried in the mud along the far shore. Using his pry bar, he managed to get it upright, finding another treasure underneath, a huge canvas bag. First moving the bike up to the beach, he went back for the bag and opening it, let out a whoop.

"Rope, here be rope!" The entire bag was stuffed full of rope. Gibbs couldn't tell whether it was one length or many, but at this point, he was so happy he didn't care. He'd knot it all himself if he had to! He wrestled the bag up onto the shore and realized they still needed rope or cord to fasten everything to the wagon. He was hoping for bungee cords now, thinking how handy they would be. Much easier than re-opening that canvas bag and unleashing all that rope.

He told Ducky what he was looking for and of course the good doctor, always looking to please his friend, soon found a plastic bag full of dripping wet and muddy bungee cords. He set them out on the beach to dry a bit while they continued searching. Moving aside another car door, Gibbs uncovered several panels he recognized as solar panels and with Ducky's help, carried them up to the beach. Tim might find a use for those. To his delight, Ducky had found a shipping container full of wood; Gibbs said it was teak. The container was stuck in the mud, and there was no way they could move it themselves, so they left it there reluctantly, knowing they would need more muscle to move all that wood. Thinking twice about it, Gibbs dragged Ducky back out and they removed some of the wood to the beach, above the tidal marks.

They knew there would have to be return trips and Gibbs was already thinking they might have to build a raft and float some of the large items, such as the black container, back to the cavern.

Looking at the time, he realized it was time to start hauling things up the path, but as he looked across the pile still in the water, he spotted a dark flat object underneath. Calling Ducky over, they got as close as they could and realized it was part of a barge. Still floating. Now they were in business for their next run!

While Gibbs had been poking at that, Ducky had uncovered a large carton with what seemed to be an inflatable raft and oars. It was marked as 'seaworthy', so he hauled it to shore, thinking it would be useful during their next salvaging trip.

With the staircase in place, they could walk to the coves, load up the barge, and float the wood, perhaps using this inflatable raft to manhandle everything. They would probably need the boat as well. Seeing that Jethro was summoning him, Ducky realized it was time to pack up and starting moving things up the path. Deciding what was the most necessary and moveable, the two men loaded the garden cart, using the bungee cords to secure everything, then pushed, pulled and prodded the cart up the path.

* * *

NOTE: Just wanted to send out positive thoughts and prayers for all of the Fan Fic readers in India who might be affected by the massive cyclone that has struck. I do hope you, your families and friends are all safe and secure.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Day Four: The Bay

While Teams 1 and 2 were having fun salvaging, Team 3 had taken their assignment to explore the bay quite seriously. Tony had tucked the digital camera in his pack; he took several photos of the various parts of the bay. While open to the ocean, it was not a large bay and the path or trail that led them to it was wider than the other paths they had seen, ending in the middle of the curved beach. The two men split, with Tony taking the WT, walking to the north end of the bay and Mitas the whistle, walking to the south end. Pine and fir trees lined the shore; Tony was careful to take photos of them, certain someone would be able to identify them.

He hadn't seen any visible evidence here of the flotsam that covered both coves, but during his walk, he discovered a large propane canister bobbing in the waves. He took a photo and left the canister where it was; without knowing whether it was full or how stable the fuel was, he decided on caution. Moving up the shoreline a bit, he discovered a wooden box with the lid askew. When he pulled the cover aside, he found several containers of camp stove fuel. Not knowing whether the boat engine could be adapted to that, he hauled the crate farther up from the water and took a photo of it. He pulled out the smallest container to take with him and if anyone wanted more, they could come back for it.

On the opposite side of the bay, Mitas was enjoying the sunshine and the waves. He walked slowly, taking time to look from the water to the trees and down the beach. He saw a glint of something at the edge of the trees; moving towards it, he discovered an all terrain vehicle or ATV, upended and leaning against a tree. He looked across the bay at Tony, but the man had his back to him, looking at something on the ground and Mitas did not think this was worthy of a blow on the whistle. Carefully, he eased the ATV back from the tree and onto its tires. He noted the tow bar in the back and thought how great it would be if they could use it to tow containers of water from the spring. Or to herd the goats and the chickens, that would be fun too. He left it where it was while he continued to the edge of the bay. Looking to his left he saw a few boxes and evidence of some debris, but nothing as exciting as the ATV. Lifting the binoculars he had been entrusted with, he zeroed in on the boxes but they were no longer marked and could have been anything. When he looked at the debris, however, he saw something that scared him silly and he grabbed the whistle and blew into it with everything he had. He turned and saw DiNozzo looking over at him and he waved at him.

Tony heard the whistle and saw that Mitas was at the far end of the bay and looking south, down the coast. He gestured to Mitas to come toward him; if there was danger Tony was nowhere near enough to help him.

Tony cursed himself, they never should have split up, Mitas was not a trained agent; he was a cook and didn't necessarily know how to protect himself, even with Ziva's second favorite knife. Damn it, Tim had been castigating himself last night for doing virtually the same thing, although he had only been a few steps away.

He started to run but quickly realized he was running in dry sand. Taking his shoes and socks off and stuffing them in his pack, he checked his weapon and then nearly stepping into the surf, ran on the wet, tightly packed sand. Mitas did the same thing on his end and met him about three quarters of the way in from the edge of the bay.

"I'm sorry man; I panicked and blew the whistle. I saw something and it scared the shit out of me, but I wasn't in any danger. No snake or animal or pirate or anything."

"Ok, that's good; you're all right then, no weird insect bites or anything else?"

"No, Tony, it's what I saw down the coast. It's..." Mitas faltered. "I think it's a dead person, Tony. I think I saw a dead body, a skeleton."

The man was sweating and his arm, where Tony was grasping it, was clammy, Tony thought he might be having a panic attack. He sat him down in the shade and pushed his head between his knees. When he heard Mitas' breathing easing up, he pulled out a bottle of water and had the man sit up slowly to drink it.

"Ok Cory, that's better. Easy now. Just take it easy, no, stay here in the shade. Whoever that was is long gone and wouldn't mind if we take a few minutes here."

"Oh geez, I've never seen…I mean, I saw Lt. Takada and that was awful, I saw him die, Agent DiNozzo. But this, it's a skeleton or parts of a skeleton."

"Yeah, that's not a good feeling, finding your first dead body, especially if it's a skeleton. Feel like telling me a little more about it?"

"Have you ever…?"

"Dead bodies, yeah. Skeletons? Unfortunately yes, in our business I'm afraid we've all seen more than we care to talk about."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, no, I'm just saying it isn't something you ever get used to. Now, have some more water and then maybe you can tell me more about what you saw."

"Ok, I'm good now…, well I had the binocs up, was looking south on the shore, saw some boxes and some debris. The boxes didn't have any markings left, I couldn't tell what they were so then I swept my eyes over to the debris and saw…I saw a skull with a hand and arm. I don't know if there's more."

"Ok, about how far down the coast?"

"Maybe 100 yards, it's not far at all; I was just feeling like I didn't want to get out of sight from you, why I stopped."

"Understandable, I was wishing we hadn't split up at all. All right, I'm going to call the boss and let him know. You just hang out here in the shade and finish that water." Mitas nodded at him.

Tony stepped a few feet away and called Gibbs on the WT. Quickly filling him in, he heard his boss calling out to Tim to stop. He put Tony on speaker and explained the situation again, to his teammates, who set out immediately with one of the large plastic bags Ducky had found.

Tony could hear Ducky telling them not to move the body until he got there and chuckled, some things would never change. Within minutes, Tim and Ziva were with him and explained that Ducky had overexerted himself and Gibbs was making him take a break sitting in the shade with a bottle of water. Gibbs would stay with him and they would come along once Ducky rested.

Tim continued, "And Ducky said…"

All three of them chorused, "Don't move the body!"

Behind them still propped against a tree in the shade, Mitas laughed. These people had obviously worked together for a long time. He did have a question though, "Why would Ducky want to see where the body is…it's a skeleton, not from here."

His eyes widened as the three agents looked at each other, then Tony answered, "Until Ducky sees the body and we survey the surrounding area, we don't know the person didn't die here. We assume he or she did, until proven otherwise. Yeah, in this case, it's probably 99.9% certain the person did not die here, but we won't know until we look and Ducky says."

"So do you have to wait for Ducky to look? I thought Gibbs was your boss?"

"He is, but the Medical Examiner has jurisdiction over the body and where it's found, so Gibbs taught us to do what Ducky says. It's common crime scene procedure actually, not just NCIS."

"Well, so are you going to go look or wait for them?" The three laughed and then Tim stepped forward, "Feel like walking? We'll go look, but we need to keep you in our sight."

"Because I panicked…"

"No, because you don't have any training in self defense – yet - against goats, chickens, pirates, weird insects, dead bodies or whatever other unknowns there are on this island. You've already had two unpleasant surprises, Cory, because we," Tim gestured between Tony and him, "got a little island happy. That's not going to happen again."

Tony continued, "Giving you the knife, as much as Ziva loves it, was not the answer. The answer is you stay with us until we can get you trained in the basics."

"Ok."

Ziva finally spoke, "Do not worry, Mitas. Gibbs will move your training up the list and then you will not have to hang in with us all the time. "

The boys automatically corrected her, "Hang out with us."

"Yes, he will, but I am sure he will be sick of us quite soon."

"No Ziva, we meant…never mind." Behind them Mitas had been following the conversation and now he busted out laughing. "I'm sorry, but you three, remind me of…"

Ziva spoke, "The Three Stooges, yes?"

"No…well yeah, maybe, but my brothers and me when we were kids."

Tony and Tim made nyuk-nyuk noises at each other, channeling the Stooges, while Ziva huffed, grabbed the camera from Tony and marched off toward the ocean.

"Party Pooper!"

"Yeah but she's right, Tony, we'd better get to work or Boss is going to slap us halfway home."

Tony grimaced, "Good point, Probie, let's go. C'mon Mitas, up you go. You don't need to look again; you just need to be within our sight and reach, ok?" Mitas nodded and the three men followed Ziva.

Tony nearly veered off into the woods when he saw the ATV, but Tim's long arm caught him, pulling him back onto the sand.

"Focus, DiNozzo, dead body. You can't be that out of practice, it's only been three days."

"Seems like three weeks, McGrabber." Mitas looked up at the name.

Tim's turn for a huff, "You'll get used to it. His more creative ones are pretty funny."

Tony preened for a minute and then turned serious when Ziva returned to them. "I used the telephoto lens on the camera and saw the debris mass. It appears to be a full skull, or at least one side and the front, and an arm and hand. If there is more, it is covered in the debris. I will go ahead to the debris. Must we use our booties, Tony? "

Tony thought for a second, "Yes, I think we should, Officer David; as we said, until Ducky says so we assume the deceased died here. And Ziva," Tony stopped and motioned to Tim to go with her, "none of us should be alone on this island. Not until we are sure no one else is here, maybe never."

Ziva nodded in compliance as Tim caught up to her. The two stopped at the turning point in the path. Ziva handed the camera to Tim; he looked and quickly spotted the skull and arm. Swallowing hard and shoving his emotions to the side, he reported, "Looks like a left arm, think there's a thumb on the right side of that hand." He was glad when Tony and Mitas caught up to them, helping him focus as they continued their analysis.

"I believe we can approach the body from the woods, Maghee, without disturbing it. "

"Yeah, think you're right, Ziva, from what I can see, the shore drops off, we could end up in a deep hole or even worse if we try to access through the water."

"Good catch, McGee. Ok, you two approach through the woods, we'll stay here and try to steer you in the right direction. Be careful, if there's any danger to either of you, come back and we'll try something else or wait for Ducky."

Both agents nodded at their Senior Field Agent and climbed back up into the woods, thick at that part of the shoreline. Tony pulled out his WT and called Gibbs with an update. After DiNozzo updated his boss, his boss gave him an update of their situation. "We're on our way, be there in a few minutes. Tell me where you are."

"Southwest corner of the bay Gibbs; where it meets the ocean."

"Think we can pull the body out by land, DiNozzo?"

"We'd better be able to Boss; we don't know the depth or topography near or in the water, there's too much debris, we can't tell. Tim thought he saw evidence of a drop off."

"Can you still see them, Tony?"

"Negative Boss, we have a 5 minute check-in, due in 2 minutes."

"Roger that" and Gibbs clicked off. He shook his head as he muttered to himself.

"Jethro, they're fine, Anthony is your second, he's handling it well, they are all doing their jobs, what is the problem?"

"The problem is…we're on a strange island, with a stranger, finding all this stuff and now a dead body, no way to get home. I'm just..." Gibbs sighed and removing his hat, ran his hand through his hair, "worried. You all are my responsibility, Duck, mine and if anything happens.., you heard what Tony said about the drop off."

"You'll feel better when we're there, Jethro, you can slap their heads or ruffle their hair and feel the life under your hand. _They're_ _all right_. They're well trained professionals and they certainly know how you feel about them. Yes, my friend, they do. Why do you think Timothy and Anthony have finally become friends, why Ziva is comfortable with us? It is because they know for a certainty that you care about each of them. There is no more jealousy or doubt between the boys, nor mistrust from Ziva."

"Guess you're right, old man, usually are. C'mon, let's go see what they've got."

The two hiked amiably together from the top of their cove to the path at the top of the bay and then carefully followed the trail down to the beach. Halfway down, Gibbs spotted a distant figure waving at him and knew it was his eldest. Huffing to cover a sigh of relief, _he did not like this… being all over the island_; he continued his descent behind Ducky.

Tony was on the WT with Tim as the two older men reached him, with Mitas in the shade and within sight, nearby. While Gibbs took the WT so he could hear his agents' voices himself, Ducky smiled to himself and then moved to young Mitas.

"Now young man, I understand you had a bit of a startle, how are you feeling now?"

"I'm all right, Ducky, Tony had me sit down and put my head between my knees, then drink a bottle of water. And I'm supposed to stay in the shade and within their sight and grabbing distance forever, or until I'm trained in self defense or get used to dead bodies, I guess."

"Yes, I should say so for the training; I certainly hope you won't have to view any more dead bodies. Here, let me take a quick check, may I?" Ducky reached over and took Mitas' pulse. "Hmm, still a little quick but your skin is not clammy and your breathing is fine."

Gibbs joined them, asking, "Mitas all right, Duck?"

"Yes, Jethro, he's made a nice recovery, thanks to the prompt attention of our Anthony."

"Still screwed up Duck. But we'll talk about that later," Gibbs tapped Mitas lightly on the shoulder, "Stop doing our jobs, ok, bud? We're supposed to be finding the dead bodies, not the civilian in the bunch."

He gave the young man a smile as he said it so he would know the Team Leader was teasing.

"Yes Si…Gibbs, that's fine with me, I'll just stay this much distance away and I don't want to see another skeleton, ever. In four days, I've seen my first death and a second dead body, that's enough."

Tony had joined the others in the woods, still trying to find a way through to the remains. Now he returned. "Boss, there's too much debris in the way. We think the skeleton is hung up in the debris and that's all that's holding it on shore. We can't tell without stepping right into it if it's solid land there or marsh or a big deep hole." He paused, "Tim has an idea, they're right behind me."

"Hey Boss, hey Ducky." Though the words sounded like Tim's usual cheery self, Gibbs eyed him, something was off with him, his eyes didn't have their usual sparkle. _Well, the kid had been dealing with a skeleton; that was never easy._

"McGee, what's your idea?"

"Ziva and I found a rowboat and a kayak in the flotsam in that first cove. We left them both down there, figured we could either tow them or row back to the cavern. But what if we brought the rowboat here to the bay and went south, hugging the shore, try to access the remains that way? If two of us paddled, Ducky could go with us and at least do a site survey."

"Have any experience with rowing, McGee?"

"No Boss, I haven't been on a boat for more than work since I was 4."

"DiNozzo?"

"Some, Gibbs, did some sculling on the river during college."

"River, DiNozzo, a lot different than the ocean."

Gibbs turned to Ziva, "David?"

"Not really. An afternoon on a quiet river, but no more than that."

They looked at their boss, "Some, but not on an ocean, just lake and river. I've always used a motor or sail on the ocean."

Ducky laughed, "Well, I find that refreshing, it seems I'm the only one who has ocean experience!"

Mitas cleared his throat, "Uh, I do too, when we lived with my grandmother in Florida, my brother and I used to row near Jacksonville."

Gibbs shook his head, "No, not going to happen, that's unacceptable; we'll come up with something else."

"Boss, since the skeleton looks like it's been there for awhile - we think we saw a bird's nest in it - couldn't Ducky and Mitas teach us and then we could go after it?"

Gibbs glared at his youngest while he thought. For once he wished a damn body had not landed anywhere near their jurisdiction, _not that_, he huffed; _this was anyone's 'normal' jurisdiction! _

"Yeah, that's a good idea, McGee, but we've got a lot of other things that need doing first. Ducky, Mitas, you up to teaching these three how to work a rowboat in the middle of the ocean?"

Ducky looked at Mitas and winked, making Mitas feel better. "I'm willing, Gibbs, if Ducky is."

"Very willing, Jethro, and I have no problems leaving the body there for a few days. I realize we need to get some issues handled first and sadly even if we found an identity, we have no way to contact the poor soul's family."

Gibbs nodded, "Ok, then we'll add that to our priority list, along with some training for the newest member of the team. Now, it's too late in the day for the beach, let's figure out what we need to haul today and then we can come back tomorrow for the rest."

McGee looked at him. "Got something to say, Tim?"

"Yeah boss, with the goat population, we should probably move any food, cloth and light metal – like wire – today."

"Makes sense McGee."

"Uh, Gibbs?"

"Yeah Mitas?"

"I found an ATV just over there in the woods and if it works, one of us could ride that back and forth to the entrance with bags and packs."

To his amazement, Ducky and Gibbs looked at each other and started laughing. Mitas took a quick peek at the three younger agents and saw varying expressions of shock on each face. Gibbs was laughing!

As the shock wore off, Mitas noticed both Tim and Ziva sending pointed looks toward Tony. Tony frowned at them, but they persisted and he rolled his eyes. Mitas grinned; these people were very entertaining; they spoke as much with their expressions as Gibbs did.

After trying to get his teammates to back off, Tony gave into their demand and waited until the boss's laughter seemed to die down a little.

"Uh Duckman, Boss, you two want to share?"

"DiNozzo…uh, no…you had to be there. I will tell you this, we found a big flatbed cart, you know, like they have at lumberyards, in a container, loaded it up and hauled it up the path. In fact, you two," and here he pointed to Tim and Ziva, "helped us with it."

Both nodded, realizing they hadn't paid attention to the cart itself. After hauling their found treasures up the path, they were early for the rendezvous so started down the path at the second cove to see if Team 2 needed any help. As soon as they saw the two trying to push a huge load of stuff up hill, they just slid past the load, got behind and pushed.

"Boss, before we leave, there's a couple things I wanted to show you guys, besides the ATV. If you look on the northern side of the bay, about 2:00, see that thing bobbing in the water? That's a big propane canister – the kind you have for your barbecue grill, Boss, only bigger. I didn't touch it because I don't know anything about propane, how stable it is. Also, I found a box with several containers of camp stove fuel. I brought a small one back with me, left it on the beach when I came after Mitas."

Ducky muttered, "Oh ye of little faith" to Gibbs who rolled his eyes at his friend. "That's wonderful Anthony as I found an old-fashioned lantern that will take the camp fuel. We also found a folding table so we'll have something to put the lantern on."

Gibbs turned to Mitas, "Ok, bud, why don't you take Tim and Ziva back to the second cove with you on the ATV, I think they can stand on the sides, and hook up that cart and yes, McGee, I know you'll have to unload it, hook it up and then reload it. There's a big canvas bag full of rope if you need it, but the bungee cords should hold."

"I have driven one of these before; they're very common in the desert, so I could drive this."

Mitas jumped when four people yelled, "NO!" He looked at Ziva who, amazingly enough, looked like she was pouting. Tim patted Mitas on the shoulder, "Come on Mitas, you can let her drive sometime when it's just the two of you, then you'll understand."

As the three of them drove off perched on the ATV, Tim heard Ducky asking if anyone had caught any fish for dinner. Privately, Tim thought Gibbs and Ducky should handle that and let the rest of them take care of the heavy stuff. He knew Ducky had overexerted himself and he wasn't all that sure Gibbs hadn't done the same thing.

Back at the bay, Tony had had the same thought about dinner; he was currently 'discussing' it with his boss and Ducky.

"Boss, you two are our best fishermen, you guys need to do the fishing and we'll keep hauling. Mitas and I haven't done anything strenuous since we finished the staircase."

"Which was this morning, Anthony; this very day."

"Well yeah, but we're you…Tony prudently stopped when he saw the expression on Gibbs' face. "That is, you two have done your share and we need something to eat for dinner, so unless you want Ziva to kill a goat, someone needs to fish and you guys are the experts."

Ducky chuckled and looked at Gibbs, knowing he was going to capitulate.

"All right, DiNozzo. Tonight after dinner, want to talk with both you and McGee about Mitas."

"Yeah Boss, we know we screwed up."

As Tony turned to leave, Ducky winked at him and he felt slightly better. He looked for the can of fuel at the head of the beach, but there was no sight of it so he figured one of the others had taken it with them on the ATV.

"Jethro, you're not going to yell at them, are you? About Mitas? Remember there is very little privacy in the cavern."

"Then I guess we'll have to come back up, Duck, they both screwed up and they know it. Hell, I would never have known about McGee's screw up if he hadn't told me."

"Well then why must you yell?"

"What kind of leader would I be if I didn't call them out on their mistakes, how would they learn?"

"Yes but do you have to yell? Think of poor Mitas, he's going to feel guilty and never going to be comfortable with you again!"

"Hadn't thought of that, Duck. Ok, I won't yell but I'm going to tell them that's for Mitas' sake, not theirs. Tell you what; they can do KP for the next four days, how's that?"

"Not bad, I would have said three days though."

"I know, but you're a soft touch for those three. What would you do if it were Palmer?"

Silence, then a sigh, "You're right, I suppose. Four days is reasonable."

"I'm thinking I might actually tell them five days and let them negotiate to four."

"You are devious!"

"Thank you, thank you very much! Now, shall we catch our dinner?"

The two walked back out to the beach, opened their packs and soon had their lines in the sparkling water, angling for their dinner.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Day Four: Working together

Mitas stopped the ATV at the large pile of things at Cove 2. His eyes widened as he looked at the pile, then back at Tim and Ziva.

"Gibbs and Ducky found all that?"

"Yep, wait til you see what they left behind and wait til you see our stash!"

"Yeah but, those two hauled all of this up that hill?"

"Everything that is not on the cart, yes. They had the cart about halfway up when we came down to help them."

"Wow, they should just catch the fish for dinner and not do any more work today."

"Had that same thought myself, Mitas. And I'm betting Tony did too. Now, we need to offload all that; hook the cart up and reload."

"Tim, we should leave room for some of the things we found that we need right away."

"Good idea, Ziva. Let's sort through this, if we see anything we know Gibbs will kill us if we leave behind, then it goes now."

Mitas laughed, "Don't forget the stuff the goats will eat."

"Yes."

As they spoke, they had taken the bungee cords off the cart and were sorting through the various boxes. As they took the last box off, strangely, a box of sheets, Tony joined them.

"Hey DiNozzo, where's Boss and Ducky?"

"Persuaded them to find dinner for us, Probie, so they're fishing in the bay."

Tony scrunched his nose in puzzlement when the others laughed.

"What am I missing?"

"That you, Tim and Mitas had the same idea!"

"Ah, I see, that's good…what've we got here? Hey wait, Mitas, I heard a clank, let's look in that box."

Mitas opened the box, "It's just nails and hand tools and junk."

"No no, my friend, time for a Gibbs' lesson and Team rule #2…" Tony suddenly hunched his shoulders,

"Probie, Ziva, he's not right behind me, is he?"

"No Tony, not this time."

"Ok, that'll be Team rule 3 and Lesson 3 about Gibbs, Mitas! Whenever you're about to say something about him or something he won't like, he automatically appears behind you."

"And…"

"Fine, thanks Probie, and headslaps you."

Mitas chucked, "Ok, got that, always check your perimeter before talking about your boss. What's the Team rule and lesson #1?"

He wasn't too surprised when all three chorused, "Never spill his coffee."

"And lesson #2?"

"He loves hardware, hand tools – he's a carpenter at heart, builds boats in his basement, geez I wish we had the one he's got going now, we could sail home."

"Ok, so 1 is coffee, 2 is hardware and hand tools…oh this box needs to go back on the cart…and 3 is watching your perimeter. Are there more?"

"Yes, you will learn them in time."

"Gotta say, for all of us being stranded on a deserted island, your group is a trip, man! Very entertaining so far."

"Hold that thought for the bad times, Cory, and there will be some."

Tony looked over at Tim and grimaced, letting his teammate know there was a 'bad time' for the two of them happening in the near future. Tim shrugged; he would just as soon get it over with.

They finished going through the items they'd offloaded from the cart and found a few things that could wait. Tim wanted the solar panels immediately but finally agreed they could wait for the next load. The bicycle could wait, but probably not the box of sheets, although they had no idea why Gibbs or Ducky would want sheets.

Then, realizing that 'no room for riders' on the way to the entrance of the staircase meant they could each carry a box, Tony handed Ziva the box of sheets. Knowing the box of toilet paper and Ziva's mystery box were waiting for them, plus the chairs, bench, wash tubs and storage boxes of clothes, Tim just smiled at her and the three helped Mitas re-attach the bungee cords and then hiked after him as he headed for the next pile of treasures.

When they caught up with Mitas, he had already detached the bungee cords and was looking through the neatly piled objects to see what would be a priority. Team 1 had prioritized in their stacking, that made it easier. Recognizing that the chairs and bench would go well with the long folding table already on the cart, the four set those aside. Tim, with a look of pride, unveiled the box of toilet paper and the plastic buckets, an instant hit with the other three. Ziva just planted the mystery box on the back of the cart and gave Tony a look when he opened his mouth to ask.

Team 3 sighed in gratitude when they saw the storage tubs filled with clothing. Of course Tony was over the top about the designer sneakers, however since those were safely packed, they decided they could wait for another trip. When their friend sulked, Tim showed him his pack with two pairs, one Tony's size, already stuffed in. Mitas, seeing that, reached in and dug around until he found a pair in his size.

Tony whistled, "Now this is fun, free shopping and quality stuff! Good job, guys! Lot more exciting than fuel for a lantern."

"Hey man, we found the ATV!"

"Oh yeah, guess we do rock after all, right Mitas?"

In the end, the chairs, bench, storage tubs of clothing and shoes, box of TP, Ziva's box, both the plastic and metal buckets and 3 of the metal tubs made it onto the cart for the first load to the cavern. The cart was piled high and the bungee cords stretched as far as possible. This time, Mitas drove as slowly as possible as the other three walked alongside, ready to grab anything that threatened to fall. Luckily, the entrance wasn't very far, although if they had had to carry everything it would have seemed a much longer distance. When they reached the entrance, Tim and Ziva went a few steps down with the other two unpacking the cart and handing each item down. It took them a good twenty minutes to unload the cart and pass everything down the stairs. In the cavern below, the teammates worked seamlessly and soon the staircase room was full of their treasures. Tim moved the box of TP to the narrow passageway connecting the 2 'waste stations' and Ziva moved her mystery box inside her 'waste station', which finally gave Tim a big clue about the contents. Really glad he hadn't asked about it, he stacked the chairs, bench and table in the passageway closer to their living quarters but left Gibbs and Ducky's boxes and the storage tubs stacked on top of each other in the staircase room.

Bringing down the last of the cartload, Tony and Mitas grabbed what was left in the room and carried it to the common area. Gibbs' canvas bag of rope was parked next to his bed; Ducky's sheets were parked next to his. Food and kitchen stuff was placed off to the side of the fire pit, next to their box of dishes. Once they had all the boxes, storage tubs, wash tubs and things put somewhere, they brought in the table, set it up and placed the chairs and bench around it.

When they finished, the four looked at each other and laughed, knowing they wanted to bring the rest of the treasure piles down today.

Checking his watch, Tony announced, "There's an hour of good daylight left, shall we see what else we can bring back?"

"Yup, let's go."

"Wait!"

"What Ziva?"

"Have any of you drunk any water in the last hour?"

Three no's filled the room, "Ducky will be upset if we become dehydrated."

Sighing, all four of them took their water bottles from their packs and drank deeply and then made a mad scramble for the stairs. In the end, they brought back everything that had been hauled up from the coves.

After helping move everything downstairs, Tim decided to leave the others to organize things, start the fire and brew a pot of coffee while he went looking for their anglers, who had not yet returned. He left the cart hooked up to the ATV, made sure he still had power on his WT and took off toward the bay. He was nearly there when he spotted the two, carrying several fish, ambling along the path that was already starting to show more definition.

"Hey there, Timothy, we caught dinner!"

"That's great, Ducky, we're all set for them, Mitas is planning a feast tonight!"

"How much did you get back to the cavern, McGee?"

"All of it, Boss, we did three runs and got everything that was left at the side of the paths. The wood and fruit too."

Despite the dimming light, Tim could still see that Gibbs' eyes showed his surprise, pride and pleasure, "I didn't expect that all in one day, Tim, that's great!"

"Team effort, Boss, Mitas fits right in. Climb onto the cart, you two, you can sit or stand, but if you stand, hold onto my shoulders. Oh, there's a box bungee'd on the back, you can put the fish in that."

"Nicely done, lad, all right, we're all set." Tim carefully pressed the accelerator and smiled as Ducky cried out, "Tally ho!" They reached the entrance in a couple of minutes and Tim followed the older men down the stairs, excited about seeing their reaction to the chairs, bench and everything else that had been found.

He smiled when they reached the common area. Someone had filled and lit Ducky's lantern and it stood in the middle of their new table, lighting up much of the cavern and casting wonderful shapes and shadows on the walls. Best of all, though, were the chairs and the bench, enough for all six of them to sit at the table.

Ducky actually gasped when he spied the chairs and bench; then turned to the four young people.

"I can't believe it! You found three chairs, and a bench!"

"The bench was the second or third thing Tim and I found, Ducky. The chairs came a little later. Tony combed out the sand here so the table would be level and Mitas filled the lantern and lit it."

"I'm really impressed, guys, thanks!" Gibbs threw at them nonchalantly, causing three dropped jaws and two chuckles. He poured himself a cup of coffee and smiled behind the mug as he took a sip.

Ducky had handed the bag of fish to Mitas and now the cook expressed his surprise when he found them all gutted and cleaned.

"Hey that's great, Ducky, Gibbs, thanks, this saves me some time, fire's about right, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes."

Ducky grinned back at him and then mumbled something about seeing a man about a horse and left the room, probably wondering why his four young friends were grinning at him. His surprised cry had Gibbs on the run, while the others straggled behind him, giggling. Gibbs stopped short in the entryway to the men's bathroom, _be_ _damned if he was going to call it a 'waste station', _noting the large candle burning on one of the rocks and better yet, the roll of toilet paper and plastic bucket Ducky was waving at him.

"Jethro, look what they found and in the bucket, I found this!" Gibbs was a little afraid to look but forced himself and saw the box with the waste-eating chemical he had mentioned earlier that day.

"Tim, I'll bet that's your find."

"Found a box of camping merchandise, Boss, brought back the tent, and a sleeping bag but best of all those tablets. There's also water tablets, we can use those on the boat if we use it to get home."

Tony laughed, "Good going, McBoyScout! We may have to build an ark for all our stuff though."

Gibbs grinned at them, "That's ok, DiNozzo, we have the wood! Set some of it up top, did it get back here?"

"Yeah Boss, we stacked it behind your bed, next to your rope."

Ducky cleared his throat, "Lady and gentlemen, while I appreciate your attention, I really do need to…" he brandished the bucket, "use the bucket!"

"That's ok, Duck, you know my team, we have some of our best meetings in the men's room!"

The others laughed but Mitas just shook his head at that one. Tim leaned over to him as they filed out of the room, "Tell you that one later, too, man. It's not that bad. Just no privacy in our office."

In a few minutes, Mitas banged the pan for dinner and the six of them sat down to another delicious meal. Tim wondered why authors of 'castaway' books had their characters eating so sparsely and made a mental note to mention their daily feasts in his book. _Book?_ He sighed and tried to remember if there had been pencils, pens or paper discovered today. Until he got those solar chargers built, he wasn't going to even turn on his laptop. Across from him, Ducky frowned,

"Deep sigh, Timothy."

"Was just thinking about all the things we still need to do, Ducky, things I need to start working on for options for our trip home."

"We'll all work on them, Tim. Good topic, we've been so busy, we haven't had a chance to talk about rescuing ourselves yet."

"Still think converting to sail is our best bet, Boss?"

"Don't know, Tony."

"Gibbs, with that rowboat and kayak we found, perhaps they can somehow aid us in our planning."

"Yeah Boss, we were thinking we could float whatever else we want from the piles, back here."

"You know, Probie, if we're going to build an Ark or even do something to our boat, won't we need more room? Boss, would it be better to work on any water thing we do in the bay?"

"Good idea, DiNozzo."

"And that's on the western side, Tony, so there's more sunlight over there, not that there's that much difference on an island this size."

"I do not understand what sunlight has got to do with it?"

"The solar panels!"

"Yeah Ducky, those were probably the best find of the day, well, aside from the toilet paper, who…" Ducky pointed to Gibbs, "Great find, Boss, we might have a combination idea."

"Thought if you could build solar chargers, McInventor," Tim blinked in surprise at his boss, "maybe you could figure out how to use solar power for the boat, to get us home."

"I'd need batteries, big car or truck size batteries and, huh, have to make a list…does anyone have any paper and a pencil?"

"I have some paper Probie, was saving it for…well, never mind, don't need it anymore."

Tony jumped from the table and grabbed his go bag. "Here's paper and a pencil, McSolar."

"Some of the boxes we took out of the black container might have paper, Timothy, I'll go look."

"Wait, you guys, has everyone finished eating?"

"Yes!" came a unified response.

"Uh Boss, Tony and I," Tim looked between his boss and his teammate, with Tony giving him a 'go-ahead' nod. "We'd like to volunteer for KP for the next few days."

Ducky choked on his tea and Ziva pounded his back while Gibbs sat back and quietly looked at the two younger men.

"Ok, that works, 3 days _and_ you two are responsible for his training."

Two relieved "Yes Boss" responses echoed through the cavern.

"Boss?"

"DiNozzo?"

"Permission to delegate the knife training to Ziva?"

"Granted, if that's all right with David."

"Yes, I prefer it."

"All right, that's settled then. Any other business besides our trip home?"

"Cooking, Boss."

Mitas looked up in confusion. The guys had warned him they faced punishment of some sort for their failure to adequately protect him and he had let his mind drift while they had apparently negotiated that punishment with their boss. But cooking, that was his thing, weren't they happy?

He frowned and opened his mouth to ask when Tony hurried to explain.

"We'll all have time off from our various responsibilities, but we eat every day, so Mitas won't get a day off. Doesn't seem fair."

Again, Mitas opened his mouth to say he didn't mind, but Gibbs beat him to it, "What did you have in mind, DiNozzo?"

"Well, I can cook and I know the rest of you can cook, some better than others," grinning at Ziva, "I just thought we could rotate giving Mitas a day off every week or maybe schedule meals off so he has free time. You know, schedule it."

"That's an excellent idea, Anthony; that is if Mitas agrees."

Mitas didn't know what to think. They were worried about him not having time off. That had never happened to him before.

"Thanks, but really, cooking is what I'm good at, not all the other things you guys do. If I can't do anything else, I don't know about taking time off."

"Nonsense, lad, you've been working alongside us in everything we've done since we took the boat from the Chimera! We consider you part of the team, not only our cook. Maybe you'd like to help Gibbs plan the ark or sail conversion, or Timothy with all this solar power or teach Anthony and Ziva some cooking secrets. Or perhaps you want to take the kayak out for a paddle. The important thing, young man, is that you will need a rest at some point and you have eager volunteers who will gladly fill in for you. Granted, I don't think any of us can come near to filling your shoes, but rest is as important as work, man! Why I remember one of my professors at University…"

Tim quickly cut in, "Sorry, excuse me, Ducky. Mitas, we'll all be taking time off, you're not being targeted or anything. It's just the rest of us are pretty generalized outside of our normal jobs of course, and you have a very specialized job, so we want to make sure you get the same time to do other things as we do."

Mitas had listened carefully to both men and looking around the table, realized these people meant what they said; they wanted to make sure he got a fair shake; that was all. He nodded, "Ok, yeah that'd be fine. I don't know whether I want a whole day though or maybe breakfast off one day, lunch the next, dinner, the next, like that. Would that be ok?"

Gibbs nodded, "Works for me! DiNozzo and Ducky probably won't ever make the breakfast rotation, but that's fine, Ziva, Tim and I are certainly early risers. And, guys…and gal," smiling at Ziva, "we need a list of chores, whether they're daily, every other day, weekly, etc. You four put the list together and then we'll divvy things out so no one gets overloaded."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Jethro?" Gibbs looked at Ducky, a question in his eyes and then realized in all the excitement about the table and chairs, he'd totally forgotten!

"Yep, Duck, I did! Heard McGee and David talking about the water situation earlier today, or the hauling of the water and liked the solution they came up with. Want to tell them, Tim?"

Tim stared at him, surprised the man had heard them talking. "Uh sure Boss. We figured it would be easier if we built a cistern near the entrance and then ran a hose down the stairs, it would be easier than hauling those water jugs and buckets up and down stairs all the time. We could make the cistern big enough so that it would only have to be filled once a week or maybe twice a week and then if Boss could make some sort of valve on the end of the hose, kind of like a faucet, we wouldn't have to haul buckets at all. Ziva and I found a big metal tub today, about four feet in diameter, that might do the trick, Boss maybe you could make a top for it to keep the animals and insects out and keep the water from evaporating."

"I could, but I don't think so, McGee." Tim's eyes widened and he flinched, staring at his boss and then relaxed, having seen the twinkle in Ducky's eyes. Now Gibbs gave his smiley-smirk.

"And the reason I don't think I'll make a top for your metal tub is because…." He gestured toward Ducky, "we found a hot tub today, in the water, with the factory seals on it."

Chaos ensued as the younger set expressed their enthusiasm, that is until DiNozzo suddenly understood that the hot tub would not be used as a hot tub.

"Don't suppose anyone would go for the awesome metal tub and let McWaterPower use his solar power magic for the hot tub?"

"Not going to happen, DiNozzo."

"Besides, I can think of a better use for the large tub."

"Really and what's that, Ziva?"

"My bathtub!"

"Oh no, Zeever, you're going to have to share that one."

Ziva faked a pout and then turned to Tim. "Tell them the rest."

"You're bad, you know that."

"Yes, I enjoy it too."

"Come ON, what rest, what, Probie?"

"There are two of the large metal tubs, so we'll have two bathtubs, one for Ziva and one for the rest of us."

"Same size, Tim?"

"Actually one is oblong, Boss, wider and longer. We were thinking us guys could use that one and Ziva will have the round one. "

"Yes, it is just right for me."

"Great, guys, now all we need is the big hose."

"You didn't see that, Tony?"

"See what, Mitas? You saw…what…a hose?"

"Yep, it was on top of the stuff from Gibbs and Ducky, a huge coil of hose, looks like the kind firefighters' use?"

Gibbs nodded, "We were digging down to get this piece of rope and it turned out to be a puny little piece but then I spotted the hose, made up for it."

"But you found more rope, huh Boss, we found that big canvas bag full of it."

"Yeah, found that under the bicycle. And speaking of finds, what's with the bale of chicken wire up top?"

"That was our find, Boss; Mitas and I have been talking about putting in a garden and the chicken wire will keep the animals out."

"Good thinking, but what are you going to plant, Timothy? You'll need seeds!"

"Yep, we have one tomato's worth, a few potatoes Mitas believes we can spare, a garlic and onion that are already sprouting, whatever is left of that yellow squash and…" Tim reached into his pocket, pulled out some of the seed packets he'd found in the cove and laid them on the table, "these, I found them today in a nice little gift box."

Ducky picked them up and read the labels. "Soy beans, that's wonderful protein, Zucchini, we'll be drowning in that and no office to bring them to, heirloom tomatoes, oh that's lovely, corn, mmm, nice fiber, spinach, very good, cilantro, chili peppers, cantaloupe and pumpkin also quite nutritious, and pinto beans! Excellent, Timothy!"

"Great, that's all the ingredients for chili, good find, Tim."

"Thanks Boss, now if I could find a few oats, I could sprout those and we could make oat flour. We found a bag of flour and a bag of sugar, so that's a start but they're both small bags. "

"And bread from that, McFarmerinthedell – either the flour in the bag or the oat flour?"

"Yes, Tony, bread, if we can make a solar oven strong enough. And probably pasta if you know how to make that."

"I do and we can combine spinach with that too."

"Tim, there's a container of rolled oats on the boat; I didn't bring it over as I thought we'd use the eggs first. Can you use that?"

"Sure, Mitas, just have to let them sprout and plant them."

"Also, I can make biscuits or skillet bread, would be better if I had a cast iron skillet though."

"Maghee, what about that bag of rice, if you can sprout oats that way, could you not do something with some of that rice – that is, plant it? I have seen flour made from rice as well as oats and wheat."

"Hadn't thought of that, but you're right, Zee, I'll get it tomorrow, if the goats don't get it tonight!"

"Why didn't you bring it back, Tim?"

"It was partially eaten, Boss, looked like the bag had been gnawed open. I was…uh…a little squeamish I guess."

Tony shivered, "Rats, hate them!"

Ducky patted his hand, "With good reason, lad; good reason." Turning to Tim, he continued, "That sounds like a big garden, Timothy, you'll need help, especially with your other project."

"I'd love to have some help, Ducky, getting it set up will take some doing, we're going to need to fence it off, then till some compost in, Mitas is already saving our organic food waste, plus chicken poop and then transplant the seedlings. However, if we can come up with enough small containers, I'd like to plant the seeds in them and then plant the whole container in the ground once the seedling is ready. Anyone else want to help?"

"I'll build the fence, Tim, need some posts and need that shovel Ducky and Ziva saw from the boat the other day."

"Oh yeah, that's in Cove 1 still, Boss, we didn't get out far enough in the debris field to get it yet. Maybe tomorrow."

There was a slight sound down the table and then Tony, with a funny look on his face, admitted that as a young boy he had learned some gardening from his Italian grandmother and would be happy to help Tim.

"That's great Tony; I've only had tomato plants in containers, so anything you remember will be good!"

"I will help also, Maghee. I do not know much about gardening but I like to eat, so will help."

That gave them a laugh and then Ducky proposed that care of the garden, once established, should be put on the chores list.

"Good idea, Duck." The lantern flickered and Gibbs smirked, "Don't know about the rest of you, but we put in a solid day of labor yesterday and today. I'm done for the day."

"Not quite, Jethro, Mitas has the water heated to soak your hands. You too, Ziva, boys, yes, all of you." Ducky brought over the large kettle, steaming from the cook fire, and sprinkled some Epsom salt in, stirring it with a knife. Mitas followed behind with a second pot, and set it down in front of Gibbs.

"Guess you and I will share, ok, Gibbs?"

"Sure Mitas, here let's put it in the middle of the table." Gibbs carefully pushed the pot to the middle of the table and Ducky leaned over, sprinkling Epsom salt in it as well. "All right, group, all hands in! Ten minutes of soaking will relieve a lot of the muscle ache you'd otherwise be feeling tomorrow."

As they sat there with their hands in the warm water, Tim was jerked awake by Tony's dreamy question, "McFarmer, can you grow steak?"

"Only if we had a cow, Tony."

"Hmm, maybe we just haven't found her yet. "

"Uh, ok, sure. On this island, you never know."

He dozed back off, to be jerked awake again when Ziva called them, waking them all.

"Need something Zeever?"

"No, I dozed off and woke up and everyone else was asleep."

Gibbs chuckled, "Yeah, guess we were. Ok, everyone, off to sleep. Duck, you go too, I'll bank the fire in a minute. I guess the dishes can wait," he looked at DiNozzo and McGee, "Yep, they'll have to."

"Here Boss," Tim stumbled over to him and gathered the plates and cutlery, "You through with your coffee for the night?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"'K," Tim piled all the plates, cups and mugs in the large kettle, the water still warm and the cutlery in the smaller one. "That way the food won't get hard on the plates. I'll wash them first thing, Boss, promise."

Gibbs nodded and patted his exhausted agent on the shoulder, "I know you will Tim. Now go get some sleep."

"'K, Night Boss, Ducky…everyone…oh they're all gone…" Tim took himself off to his mattress and let himself drop, face first. Gibbs shook his head; in the three plus years Tim had been on his team, that was the first time in all the late nights and all nighters in the office, hotel rooms on road trips, ever, that he'd seen Timothy McGee pass up his nightly routine. With that thought, he extinguished the lantern, took care of the fire and headed to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

Day Five/Day Three on the Island: Secrets Revealed

0500, last down, not quite the first one up. Gibbs rolled out of the sack and decided stretching was maybe not such a good idea this morning. He should have soaked his shoulders along with his hands last night. Trying not to grumble too loud, he headed for the fire pit and coffee pot and found the fire already burning and the coffee pot half-full. Pouring himself a cup, he headed off to the men's room. He met Mitas just leaving it and they grunted at each other. Grabbing a bucket, he gave thanks to whoever was responsible for allowing these things to land here, on this one little island.

Returning to the fire pit, he found Mitas just putting the skillet on the grill. The coffee pot now nearly empty, he filled it and put it back on the grill, then poured 2 cups of their fresh water into a saucepan, and put it on there. Then did a double take when he realized that same saucepan had been on the table with dirty cutlery in it the last time he saw it. He started to growl at Mitas for doing the boys' job when the man just shook his head, and pointed to the box where the dishes lived. He looked in and saw clean dishes and cutlery. He looked over at the beds and frowned. Why was McGee up so early, even before him, and where was he? He looked at Mitas, who pointed up top. _Up top this early, that doesn't sound good._

Finishing his coffee, Gibbs hooked his cup and another, clean one, on his belt, took the coffee pot and looked at Mitas, pointing up with his head. Mitas hesitated and then whispered, "I got up at 0430 and he was already up, had the fire going, said he'd been up a while. Don't know him that well, but think he might have something on his mind. He took a cup with him when he went up."

Gibbs nodded his thanks and took the clean cup off his belt, leaving it on the table for Ziva who was just wandering off to her bathroom.

Gibbs climbed up top, careful not to spill any coffee. At the entrance, he stood and looked around, no sign of Tim. Looked like it had rained a little overnight; he saw fresh ATV tracks in the moist dirt. Sighing, he followed them and finally found his lost boy stretched out on the bed of the garden cart, leaning against the back of the ATV on the edge of the bay, staring down into it. Gibbs made some noise on his approach, but stopped, frowning, when he noticed Tim surreptitiously wiping his eyes. _Damn, he'd been right yesterday when he thought something was off with his junior agent._

"It's ok, Boss, I know it's you, I can smell the coffee."

"Here then, where's your cup, Mitas said you had one with you."

"Uh, I don't know, I was kind of upset and I…oh, there it is." Leaning over, Tim scooped the cup out from under the cart.

"Feel like talking?"

"I don't know, I…" Tim bit his lip, obviously fighting back tears. Gibbs put his cup and the coffee pot down carefully and sat down next to his youngest on the cart, nudging him to scoot over. Once he was situated, he put an arm around the young man's shoulders and held on.

"Whatever it is, Tim, just let it out. Best way to get through something."

"How long, Boss, how long till things stop hurting?"

"Things, Tim? Depends what the 'thing' is. Being stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, don't know, never happened to me before. Losing someone you love, can't tell you that either, Tim, for me it's never stopped hurting. The pain does eventually stop being in every breath you take."

"We found some bones yesterday, Boss, but I could pretend they were all animal bones. But that skeleton, that…" and this time Tim well and truly lost it, nearly howling in his grief and anger, nearly bending in half. Gibbs twisted around to face him, pulled him up a bit and wrapped both arms around him, holding him as tightly as he could while Tim sobbed into his shoulder. He rocked him as his sobs continued, softly kissing the top of his agent's head.

"That's right, Timmy, let it out, that'll help." He had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from comforting this young man the way he really wanted to, contenting himself instead with holding and rocking him gently. Finally Tim's sobs tapered off and he could feel the young man taking some deep breaths, no doubt trying to calm down.

"It's ok, Tim, take your time." He heard a muffled "Thanks Boss" and reaching up, ruffled his hair. He felt the younger man relax and he let his grip on him loosen a bit, but still maintained his hold. "Who was it, Tim? Who was it you lost and never found?"

"My best friend and 2 other friends; in the tsunami."

"In 2004?" He felt Tim's head, still buried on his shoulder move in what he thought was a nod.

"Where were they, Tim?"

"Thailand, a little island resort." Tim looked up. "We made the plans together, the three of us, Joe, Steve and me. Our friend in Japan, Akio, would meet us there. The four of us were at MIT together; we were suitemates in the dorm. Joe and I met at Johns Hopkins, he was a year older than me, we bonded over both being 'wunderkinds'. He…he was the one who got me interested in computer forensics, and applying to MIT. Steve had the same curriculum as me, Joe was studying microbiology and Akio ended up with a Masters in engineering."

"But you didn't go."

"No, when you transferred me to your team in September I felt like December was too soon to take any time off, it would have been two weeks and I didn't want to leave. Everything was so intense, I was afraid if I missed a minute I'd never catch up."

"You could have asked."

"Boss, you hardly knew me, I worked really hard to be good enough for your team, I was just getting started, I couldn't just walk off the job for that long a time. But I ended up doing that anyway."

"That was when you were so sick, that first year, I remember, I was afraid we'd lost you."

Tim gasped and tried to hold it in, but when Gibbs grabbed him again, he was sobbing.

"I _was_ sick, Boss, sick with worry at first and then grief when I realized they were gone, gone…all three of them. My J…my friends. And I should have been with them."

"God NO, no, Tim, we would have lost you too."

"No, Boss you don't understand. I was always the practical one, the one with the common sense, I would have seen the water recede and gotten us to safety. There were survivors on the island, Boss, I've met them, they remembered Joe, Steve and Akio, had heard about me, that I had a new job and had to back out at the last minute. They survived because they got to the high ground, but my…didn't, and I don't know why, except that I wasn't there to take care of them."

"No Tim, no, hey, look at me, Tim**, **_look at me_. You don't know that, they were adults, responsible for themselves. You had no way of knowing kiddo, that there was going to be a tsunami, and certainly not one of that size and strength. You don't know that you would have survived and you sure can't blame yourself for not being there with them. And Tim, no, that person in our debris field here, that isn't any of your friends, it just isn't. Whoever it was, is long gone, they're no longer feeling any pain,…ah Timmy." Tim's sobs were quieter this time but his heart was breaking all over again, here on this island that made him think so much about having to survive without the one he'd thought would be in his life forever, just because he'd hadn't been there to save them.

Gibbs sat and rocked his boy for so long that he could feel the difference as the sun's heat strengthened. He must have dozed off after Tim did because when he woke, there were two bottles of water and four protein bars on the cart next to him, both he and Tim were sporting goofy sun hats and the coffee pot and cups were gone. He hoped that was Ducky, he had been the one to sign off on Tim's long illness the January after he'd joined the team the previous September.

Gibbs now suspected that his old friend had been taken into confidence by Tim or a family member, maybe his grandmother. He was glad of that, knowing Tim had had someone at NCIS, someone he saw every day who understood and could help him. He thought further and realized Ziva might know Tim's story too as the tsunami happened around the time she would have been doing the dossier on his team for her rat-bastard half brother Ari.

Grabbing a protein bar, he ate it, then washed it down with the entire bottle of water. Once he finished that, he gently tapped Tim's face, waking him up.

"C'mon, Tim, we need to get out of the sun, come on; wake up. That a boy."

Tim raised his head and cringed at the sunlight. "Ow!"

"Headache?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, here drink some of this." Gibbs gave him an open bottle of water. Tim drank about half.

"Ok, now eat this." Tim opened his mouth and bit off half of the protein bar Gibbs was holding. He handed him the rest, still in the wrapper.

"Where…?"

"Guessing Ducky, I fell asleep after you did, when I woke up we had these hats on and water and protein bars were beside me on the cart. Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No, I…I was afraid I'd have nightmares or cry in my sleep, so I took the lantern, went in one of the rooms and wrote for a while, then I made coffee and when Mitas got up, I came upstairs. Wanted someone to know where I was."

"I hate you having been so alone Tim."

"You mean today?"

"Yeah, you should have woken me up."

"I was hoping I could get myself together before everyone woke up and…I wasn't alone before, Boss, when it happened. It was a Sunday, the day after Christmas, as soon as Penny heard about the tsunami, she called Ducky and he came to get me, took me home with him and I stayed with him all week. I was so sure they were alive, I was arrogantly sure they were alive, even after a year with NCIS I still believed that bad things don't happen…well, you know. Anyway, I went to work the next day, but there was no word. I made it through that week, still believing but by the weekend, I knew and I fell apart. Then I was really sick, Boss, I ended up with pneumonia; Joey would have been so pissed at me."

"For what?"

"For falling apart, I was in pieces. And I wasn't very interested in getting better."

"What about Joe's family, were you in contact with them?"

Tim sighed. "They'd never been very friendly toward me, but I was used to that, my own parents were pretty frigid toward me, so it just felt like home. We used to joke about it. After…they blamed me. Said I'd picked the resort and then had the audacity not to die with their son. I haven't contacted them since."

Gibbs had to take some deep breaths at that, to keep his anger away from Tim. How dare that family accuse Tim, suffering from the same loss plus his other friends, how dare they. And of all people, his Ti…agent.  
He wished he'd been told; wished he had even tried to visit Tim while he was ill. Thinking back, he had a vague memory of Ducky telling him Tim's doctor had forbidden any visitors.

"They weren't found, were they, Tim? After?"

Tim shook his head tiredly, "No, nothing. They were just wiped clean off the face of the earth, like they never existed." His face scrunched and Gibbs pulled him close again.

"Want you to listen to me, kiddo. As long as someone – anyone – remembers them, they're not gone. No one's gone as long as there's someone alive who remembers them. You hold onto that and you keep your memories alive, the good stuff, stop focusing on how they died. You're always going to love hi…them, Timmy, just because they're not here in front of you, that doesn't change. You tell your friends, family, us, about them, stories – your memories and when you spread their memories from you to the rest of us, they live longer. Maybe someday you include them in a book, and then they'll really live forever."

Tim pulled back and gave him a look that Gibbs knew so well. There was something Tim wanted to tell him but was worried about his reaction. "Whatever it is, whatever you want me to know, it'll be ok. Unless you've done some pretty serious mayhem, there's nothing you could tell me that would make me think any less of you. I promise."

He got a small smile for that one. "You know?"

"Guessed, when you were talking about him."

"And it's ok, you don't…think any less of me, you won't throw me off the team?"

"For who you love, never Tim!"

"My parents knew and so did his, they hated us. My parents disowned me."

"In my book, you should have disowned them the first time your father abused you, Tim. They weren't good parents to you. And disowning you for who you loved, that was their loss, Tim. Each of them lost a son and a chance to gain a second son."

"I…I told my parents I was bi, they didn't understand…they didn't care, they quit listening."

"Doubly glad for your grandmother then, Tim. I bet she was right there for you."

"She would have been but she was traveling and…well my mother overheard me on the phone to Joey."

"She was eavesdropping?"

"I guess."

Gibbs shook his head. "How long?"

"The year I went to FLETC."

Strong arms surrounded him again and Tim felt relief. He didn't understand why he felt it was important to tell Gibbs this, but he'd felt the need, in his gut, almost since that first day in Norfolk.

They sat there for more long minutes, Tim wrapped in Gibbs arms. Gradually they pulled apart and Tim blinked his eyes tiredly.

Gibbs softly patted his head. "Want to head downstairs, get some coffee?"

"Yeah, sounds good and I'm kinda hungry."

"Good Timmy. Gah, I keep calling you that; I know you hate it when Abby says it."

"'S ok, Boss, I kind of like it." Gibbs's heart pounded a bit at the shy smile and he resolved to have a very tough talk with himself. His boy was obviously still hurting; _this was not the time and definitely not the place! _

They drove the ATV back toward the entrance but stopped when they noticed activity at Cove 1. Tim waited while Gibbs got off and looked down into the cove. Tony and Mitas were down there poking through things, Gibbs smiled, he'd figured last night that Tony would be chomping at the bit to have his fun scavenging. That was good, meant he could get Tim down below without any awkward questions. He turned back to the ATV, "Mitas and DiNozzo are down there, looks like they're having a good time."

"Good; we can leave the ATV for them, walk back." Leaving the ATV and cart, the two men headed back to the cavern. Tim had decided he would wait to eat so headed straight to his bed and was asleep before Gibbs, finding a full pot of coffee on the grill, could pour himself a cup.

He jumped when he heard noises from the water and laughed to himself when he spotted Ducky and Ziva in full diving gear, diving around the boat. Then he realized they weren't just playing, the two were examining the hull of the boat. He remembered telling Ziva they'd need to take a full look at the boat before making a decision on converting to sail. He wondered if it were possible to use a combination of fuel, solar and sail. He supposed so but feared that sailing would be the least efficient due to the shape of the boat. He shrugged; see what everyone came up with. Stretching, he felt restless and after finding a quick bite to eat, he left a note and taking his new hat, he headed back up.

Down in Cove 1, Tony cocked his head as he thought he heard the ATV moving along the path. Then silence. He shrugged and went back to his search. He and Mitas had come down here after breakfast, having been told McGee and Gibbs were off doing something, Ducky was vague and Ziva didn't seem to know what was going on.

Tony hated secrets but he figured maybe they were doing something with the whole solar power or sail thing and the rest of the group would find out at lunch or dinner. Sometimes he regretted not being an early bird, but he disliked getting up early more than he hated missing things.

He looked over at a pallet next to him with boxes marked in a language he couldn't read. Using his knife, he opened one of the boxes and found a brand new truck battery. In his head, he heard Tim saying he would need batteries, car or truck batteries.

Excited, he called out, "Solar, Mitas, we're going Solar, man! I found batteries for Tim, so we're not going with sail, or not totally sail!"

Mitas looked at him quizzically. "This is a truck battery, Mitas, a brand new one. Tim can convert this to solar power and we can use that on the boat to get home."

"What did you find, DiNozzo?" Tony jumped as Gibbs stood not four feet from him and Mitas snickered and mumbled, "Rule 2, Tony."

Gibbs corrected him, "No, their rule two is something about my woodworking tools. Rule 3 is to watch your perimeter for me."

"_Boss_, you know those?"

"Sniper uses all his senses, DiNozzo, not just his eyes."

"Gibbs, you're a sniper?"

Gibbs laughed, "Was, Mitas. Marine Corps Special Forces." He turned back to his senior agent. "So, what you got?"

Tony looked at him with a sad expression and Gibbs nodded, "Yeah Tony, I miss Abs too."

"Who's Abs?"

"Our forensic tech, Abby Sciuto."

"How…never mind, sorry, I'm being nosy." At that both NCIS agents started laughing and turning, Gibbs gave Mitas a very soft headslap.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"For apologizing and for thinking being nosy is a bad thing. Who's teaching him the rules, DiNozzo?"

"Guess we all are, Boss."

"More rules?"

"Yeah, but not all of them apply here so you won't have to learn all 50." Mitas' eyes widened almost comically.

"First thing, the 2 rules that apply the most to what you just said are rule 3: Don't believe what you're told, double check and rule 8: Never take anything for granted, never assume.…both rules require curiosity which is a nice way of saying nosy. And we're all nosy, can't be a good investigator or ME without being nosy."

"And what about apologizing?"

"That's rule 6: Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."

Gibbs interrupted, "That's enough for now, Mitas, it's up to us to tell you them as they come up. You already know rule 9, always carry a knife."

"Oh yeah."

"DiNozzo, when I came down here you were all excited about something, what was it?"

"A truck battery, Boss, and I don't know what these words say, but they all look the same as the one on this box, so we could have multiple truck batteries. And that's what Probie said he needs to convert the boat to solar power!"

"So he did, Tony, and you're right, the words on the box are in Russian and they do say truck battery."

"How many would he need, Boss, do you know?"

Mitas jumped back into the conversation, "I think I heard him say he could do with two, four would be better and six even better."

"Ok, then, let's see how many we have. The ATV is up top here, so we can take six down to him if we have that many."

By the time they cleared the pallet, they had 10 truck batteries. They packed 8 on the cart, then took the remaining two up onto the beach and covered them with a piece of burlap. They also hauled the pallet onto the beach and left it above the tidal mark to dry. Mitas found the gnawed open bag of rice, still where Tim had said he left it the day before. He scooped some rice into a plastic bag and tied a knot in the bag.

They couldn't eat this, but they could try to get it to sprout and then plant it. He didn't know whether the goats or chickens should eat it if rats had been into it, so left it where it was and decided to ask Ducky. While he was standing on the debris pile, he looked over and saw what looked like a power pole in the water. He called over to the others and they came over, Tony bringing the handy broom handle his teammates had used the day before. On his knees, bending over the water, Gibbs holding him by the back of his belt, Tony reached out with the broom handle and felt like he'd struck solid wood or solid something. When Tony returned to the little platform the three were on, Gibbs took his turn. When he got up, he had a smirk on his face. "Think that's a mast off a ship, a sailing ship. If we have some rope and all of us, we might be able to lift it up to see what damage there is, see if its reusable."

"Thought we were going solar, Boss?"

"Been thinking about that, DiNozzo, talking with McGee, seems the best way to go would be solar with sail and fuel as back up. We'll talk about it more when we get back, this is a decision for all of us because whatever we do, it's going to take us a while to convert or build it."

"Build it, Boss, are you thinking a whole new boat."

"Nope, actually it was your suggestion, Tony."

"Mine? What'd I say?"

"Ark"

"Oh yeah, but I was just…really, you think an Ark?"

"Wait till we get back and everyone's gathered, DiNozzo, then you'll see."

Mitas and Tony looked at each other, intrigued, then Tony's stomach growled and they decided to stop for lunch. They hauled their treasure up the path, loaded it on the cart, Tony hopped onto the driver's seat while Gibbs and Mitas found space to stand and hung on.

When they reached the cavern, Ziva was just putting the finishing touches on lunch and Ducky had gone to wake Tim. He came back with the bleary but dry-eyed young man who admitted, with a smile, that he was starving. If any of the others noticed that Ducky and Gibbs were covertly watching him, no one said a word.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

Days Five & Six: Mitas and his dance steps

After eating, Gibbs asked everyone to stay for an update on the finds of the morning. Ducky and Ziva reported that they'd been diving and had examined the hull of the boat; it seemed in good shape and made from the same material as the body of the craft. Gibbs nodded, that was the news he'd been hoping for. Turning to DiNozzo, he gestured to him.

Tony, grinning like a mad fiend, rose from the bench and stood so he could see Tim's face. "Down in Cove 1, found this pallet with a bunch of boxes with markings still visible, but in a language I don't know. Opened up the top box and couldn't believe what I found. When Gibbs came down, he looked and said all the boxes said the same thing. Lady and Gentlemen, we are the proud owners of not two, not four, not six but TEN brand new truck batteries."

Ziva had become impatient during Tony's buildup, now she looked up with surprise turning to a grin when she saw Tim's face. His eyes wide and eyebrows climbing his forehead, he jumped up and grabbed Tony's arm.

"Truck Batteries? TEN? OH Wow, Tony, that's…that's incredible. You found me ten truck batteries! Man, we'll reach home in two days storing that much power!"

The entire group laughed; Gibbs with relief that Tony's news had succeeded in restoring Tim's spirits, given him something challenging to think about and work on. After the excitement died down, Mitas quietly announced his find of the ship's mast in the water. That stirred them up all over again and Gibbs finally gave a sharp whistle, which echoed off every rock in the cavern, settling them down once again.

"Been thinking and talking with each of you, come to realize our best bet to reach home is a combination of all our ideas. Solar, sail and fuel, whatever fuel we have left by the time we leave here. Also been considering adding on to the boat, making what Tony called an Ark. Build around the boat and at each end. Not a lot but enough to store what food we can bring with us, hold a mast and canvas…or rather sails of whatever materials we can find. And yeah, we may end up bringing a couple of nanny goats and hens with us so we can have milk and eggs, I know a couple of people who would take them when we get home. Tim, last time we talked about the cell phones, you were going to work on boosting signal strength, as well as the solar charger which now will be for the boat."

"Yeah Boss. I've tested my phone every night and I'm not getting anywhere. We could be out of satellite range or it's because we're in international waters and the phones aren't set up to work internationally. Mitas says his didn't work on the Chimera either, although that could have been a jamming device too. Bottom line, I don't know yet when they'll kick in, whether we'll head west in our boat for two hours or two days or be sailing up the Anacostia and suddenly have cell reception. The other thing is…well, all our cells except Mitas' are NCIS issued. So at some point, service will probably be discontinued, in fact it may already have been…you know since they must think we were still on Chimera when…"

"Yeah, you're right there, Tim. So, Mitas, looks like your phone will be the one we'll be testing along the way."

Mitas smirked, "Always happy to help, Gibbs."

"He smirked, Probie, did you teach him that?"

"Not I, Tony, think he figured it out for himself." Mitas smirked again, giving them all a chuckle. "Ok, next on the list, we need designs for the ship, so let's each try and work something up and then we'll see which one looks most feasible."

"Aw Boss, you're the boat builder!"

"Yeah, I can work on the outside, but what do you want on the inside of the new part? Goat pen, hen coop, yep, but what else? We won't be in this kind of weather always, there'll be storms so what would you want inside your nice dry boat? "

"Oh, that's different, how about…"

Gibbs interrupted him, "Not taking the hot tub, DiNozzo, too heavy. Ok, so put your thinking caps on boys and girl and have that done for day after tomorrow. Now on to island business. What do we have?"

Not surprisingly, Tim had a list, "Pull up that mast, Boss. Float the barge and anything else we want over here. Find a good spot for the cistern and move the hot tub in place, getting it up the hill is going to be a bear. Wonder if we could drop rope over the side of the hill and bring it directly up rather than around and about on the path. Ok, moving on. Deciding where the boat work is going to be done and then moving the materials over there. Boss, did you see that bolt of fabric we found? I'm hoping it's sailcloth."

"It is, Tim."

"Ok so we need to figure out how to make sails then and uh…sew them?"

Mitas spoke up, "Found some sewing stuff today. Brought it back."

"Ok great, thanks Cory. Uh, does anyone know how to…oh Ducky does. Duh! Anyone else know how to sew? Boss, ok, that's good, Tony and Ziva, and Mitas, wow! Guess that makes me the only sewing student in the group! Ok, so mast, sail, oh, we need something to fasten the mast…"

"Got that covered, Tim. There's a black metal container with an imprint of Ducky's hip on it in Cove 2, it's got the right feel to it. We will need marine bolts, grommets, fasteners and other marine hardware, but haven't given up on those yet."

"Ok, I'll check that off the list then and add all those marine things. Guess we won't know what else we need for the inside of the boat until we look at everyone's ideas."

"Hey guys, do we keep going through the stuff in the cove and can we float things over on that barge?"

"Depends on where we decide to work on the boat, Tony. Don't want to bring the barge over here and then decide we need it over in the bay."

"Good point, Boss. Hey Tim, you want to…"

"Training, DiNozzo, McGee."

"Yep Boss, that was my next item. We can start this afternoon if someone else wants to handle dinner for Mitas?"

"I'll do that, Timothy."

"Ok, so Mitas, you, me and Tony, after we get done here. Ziva when do you want to start his knife training?

"After you two have taught him the basics."

"Ok, so day after tomorrow?"

"That will be fine, Maghee."

"Tony, you and Ziva were working on the list of chores and the schedule, want to pass it around and then post it somewhere in the common area here?"

"Need tape for that…oh, thanks Ducky, have the tape, Tim."

"Next item, the garden. Since I want to start the seeds in small containers, we don't need the ground tilled, the compost dug in or the fence built this week, but soon would be good."

"Figured out where you want it yet?"

"No, need to walk around and find the best place. Don't want it too far from either the spring or the cistern, going to have to bucket the water. Unless anyone has found another hose and you know, a solar powered water pump?"

Tim grinned at the group as they razzed him, although Gibbs was thoughtfully quiet.

"You know, Tim, might be able to make a water pump and then take it with us. Occasionally need to pump water out of boats, you know."

At the frightened looks on four of the faces around him, he chuckled, "Hey it happens, I've had it happen in my boat out fishing. Better to have it and not use it than have to bail with a bucket. That gets old fast."

"Ok, so what do you need to build a water pump and can it be solar powered?" Gibbs rattled off the components they should look for and Tim gave them an affirmative for the solar power. "Anyone have anything else?"

"I do. We have goats and chickens, but have not gathered eggs or milked the goats. Are we going to?"

"Yeah, good point, Zeever. I know how to milk a cow, my grandparents had a farm, can't imagine a goat would be much different."

"Great Boss, you're in charge of goat milking, then."

"No, DiNozzo, I'm in charge of teaching you all how to milk a goat."

"Don't suppose you'd know how to make butter?"

"Think we'd need a churn for that, Ducky, you know?"

"Ah yes, Jethro I believe a butter churn is necessary."

"What about cheese?"

"I have no idea, anyone else?" No one knew how to make cheese, not a big surprise there.

"Ok, so on the list of chores, add find eggs on a daily basis. We're going to have to figure out where the hens lay them and then get them. Or we could build a coop, with some of McGee's chicken wire, catch the hens and put them in there."

"Do you know how to look for eggs, Boss?"

"Yep, and I'll show the rest of you."

Ziva spoke, "I too know how to look for eggs, Gibbs, so I can also help with that."

"Ok, last question and then we'll be done with my list. Are we going to be able to use the Propane canister and the box of camp stove fuel Tony found?"

"Don't know about the propane, not a good idea for the boat. Don't think the camp fuel is either. Can use that for the lantern, though, and if we find Mitas his barbecue, maybe for that! That all? Good, let's get back to work then. DiNozzo, you have cleanup, McGee did last night's dishes…What, McGee?"

"Boss, we weren't here for breakfast, Tony would have done clean up then."

"Yeah, thanks Probie!"

"All right then, the two of you handle it between yourselves then, but no squabbling, hear me?"

"Yes Boss." "Got it, Boss."

"And after you finish cleanup, you're on training. Don't wear him out, couple hours today then come down to the cove and help us with that mast."

Both agents and Mitas nodded in agreement. Ziva cleared her throat, "I do have one more item. Will someone please help me carry my bathtub into my bathroom? And do we have enough fresh water for me to wash my clothes?"

"You're going to wash your clothes in your bathtub, Ziva?"

"Yes, and along with my own clothes, I am going to wash some of the clothes we've found so I can wear them. And I want to wash my hair as well."

"We'll need a clothesline then, Zeever, tell you what, let's go get the tub moved and we'll see where we can string a line for clothes drying. Think we could all stand a bath and some clean clothes, maybe we'll move our tub too. DiNozzo, McGee…where they'd go?"

Ducky smiled, "They took the water jugs and the buckets up top to get more water for Ziva's tub. We'll need that cistern and the hose valve pretty quickly, Jethro."

"Yeah, I think it just moved up the list, Duck." Finishing his current cup of coffee, Gibbs and the others headed to the staircase room to help the boys bring the water down.

XXX

Working on the bucket brigade and cleaning up lunch had given Tony and Tim time to plan Mitas' training. They would keep it simple but make sure their new friend would be able to handle himself on the island. Ziva could teach him kickboxing if he wanted, as well as the art of the knife; they would stick with teaching him the basics.

Once they finished in the cavern, they gathered Mitas, climbed up top and set off down the island, looking for a spot with enough space for maneuvering and a little privacy. When they found it, close to the spring, Tim remarked that it was a good place for their garden, once Mitas' training was complete of course. They worked with Mitas, telling him what they were going to teach him, and how he could defend himself without much training, on the island. They then showed him several defensive moves, the two agents trading off being the defender and the villain. Tony's unique style, more street brawl as Gibbs had always claimed, was a little confusing for the newest member of the group, so Tony broke it down as if it were dance steps. That worked better and with some practice, Mitas was able to defend himself against both villain Tim and villain Tony.

He wasn't able to defeat either, that would take far more practice, but he could hold them off for a few minutes, enough time for help to reach him. The next part of training involved Tim's wrestling moves and Mitas did fairly well at that too. After a couple of hours, they agreed significant progress had been made and Mitas declared himself ready to take on any goat on the island, although he was not yet ready to face chickens or snakes.

Calling Gibbs on their WT, they found the rest of the group in the second cove, working to move the hot tub. They joined them there and found that Gibbs had brought all his rope and had made a net that was large enough to encompass the hot tub. Once they got the hot tub to the beach, their goal would be to pull the net over it and haul it up the side of the hill. Gibbs had already scouted out the best place for that, having found a large secure boulder to act as a fulcrum. The tub was round and meant to be portable, so was not quite as heavy as they had originally thought.

It took them quite a bit of their strength and determination, as well as the rest of the afternoon and well into early evening, but by nightfall, the hot tub was officially parked in its new location and christened as their cistern. Several buckets of water were emptied into it before the group refilled the buckets and water jugs for their immediate needs, the cover was put back on and everyone headed downstairs. Mitas had disappeared an hour before and they could smell the dinner he was preparing. No one had fished today, so they were served a vegetable scramble with slices of canned ham and sliced potatoes. It was quite tasty and the group made short work of it. The boys did the cleanup while Ducky taught Mitas and Ziva to play a card game he knew from his childhood. Gibbs watched as he enjoyed his last coffee for the day. Noticing his boys quietly talking, he wondered if Tim was filling Tony in on his rough night and even rougher morning.

That was indeed the topic, Tim felt bad that everyone but Tony had known something was wrong. Knowing how Tony hated secrets, Tim just told him he'd had a bad night the previous night and Gibbs had helped him through the aftermath in the morning.

He also told him there was more to the story but he wasn't quite ready to discuss it. He asked for Tony's patience and thanked him for his understanding. Being included always helped Tony; it was his belief that was all he ever asked for, and he accepted Tim's explanation with grace and some concern, which he kept to himself.

Once they finished cleaning and talking, Tim expressed the need to rinse off, so the two of them grabbed towels and headed for the water, again stripping down to their skivvies. Swimming in the shadows cast by Ducky's lantern was quite interesting, but Tim was exhausted and Tony fairly close to it, so they just had a quick dip, dried off and both headed off to bed. Gibbs watched Tim, he seemed all right and he hoped the young man would have a good night's sleep.

As Mitas and Ziva drifted off to their own beds, Ducky moved his chair closer to Gibbs. "What's on your mind, Jethro? You're a bit pensive."

"Just thinking about Tim. He told me the whole story, glad you were there, have been there for him."

"He told you…"

"About Joey. I guessed, but yeah, we talked about it, he was afraid if I knew, Duck…he was afraid I'd kick him off the team, even now."

"DADT, Jethro, we may be a civilian agency, but dealing with the military as we do…"

"I know Duck, but it isn't anyone's business, God, I should know that better than anyone else."

Ducky laughed, "It is ironic, dear boy, that the one person Tim worried about most was the only one, to my knowledge, who would completely understand." He paused. "I suppose this brings up new problems for you, Jethro, doesn't it? Yes, don't look at me like that; I've known for a long time now how you feel about him. As long as you didn't know, you could keep everything to yourself. Now…?"

"Don't, Duck, I can't, we're…here and…he's too vulnerable. I just hope having someone else who knows and who can relate to it will help him. But I can't, Duck. He's too…I don't know how to say this right… he means too much to me for me to risk approaching him. I'd rather just help him through this and have him with me on the team than risk losing him altogether. And you know as his boss I can't say or do anything anyway."

"Ah, my friend, I have faith in the universe. We'll see. However it ends up, I am very relieved that you know. It's been a bit of a strain on me, not that I'd ever let him know."

"Duck, just…thanks for being there for him all this time. Tim mentioned you and his grandmother, seemed as if you two knew each other before this happened?"

Ducky gave him one of his enigmatic smiles, "And so we did, dear boy, but that is a story for another time." Patting the younger man on the shoulder, he headed off to sleep, perchance to dream of his Penelope.

Gibbs was pretty tired himself, it had been a helluva long day and he really just wanted to crawl into his own bed, at home, and sleep for a few days. He sighed; _it would likely be months before they were home and who knew if any of them would have homes left to go to?_ Shaking his head, he banked the fire, blew out the lantern and trudged off to his mattress.

Day Six

0500 kicked him in the face and he woke with a jolt. He'd been dreaming of home and it was a shock and disappointment to wake to the dimly lit cavern walls, to hear the waves on their beach and that smug rooster crowing. Then he smelled coffee and knew all was not lost, something was still right. He followed his new daily routine, noticing as he passed the beds on his way to the men's room, that everyone was still asleep, except for Mitas and him. That was good, Tim needed extra sleep, they all needed some rest after their Herculean tasks the last 3 days.

On his way back, he grabbed the chore list and scribbled in "fish". While the previous occupants of the boat had left them a surprisingly large amount of food, it would not last forever and he preferred to keep as much as possible for their trip home. The fish, however, were a plentiful source of food for them and that should be taken advantage of while they were here. He wondered if they could build a little smoke house and smoke some of it. Fishing while on the move would be a bit trickier.

He also wondered, briefly, what shellfish would be here and realized they still had not explored the beach Ducky and Ziva had seen. They likely wouldn't fit it in today, either, or tomorrow as they had a large list of "must do's" over the next few days. He thought once they got themselves situated with their life on the island and agreed on the ship design, with all the fittings and components they'd need, then they could start taking an hour or so day to enjoy the damn place, beach and all.

That reminded him of the dead body and the rowing lessons; at that point he gave up and poured himself more coffee. Tim told him once that he made lists to keep himself from going crazy with all the projects he routinely had going. Gibbs now understood why and was happy Tim was the keeper of their list.

As he took the plates and cutlery, salt and pepper from the box, he wondered if he could make some cabinets for them and then laughed at himself. Placing them on the table, he got cups out for the others. Tony was down to one cup of coffee a day, Tim usually had two, and he had no idea how Ducky and Ziva were doing with their supply of tea. Maybe they would find some of that in the piles they hadn't yet touched.

As he sat, idly watching Mitas cook their potatoes, he looked around and saw how much they'd accomplished in the four days they'd been here. Not bad, really! Blinking, he realized Tim was settling in across from him with his coffee. "Morning Boss."

"Morning Tim. Sleep ok?"

"Yeah, slept straight through."

"Me too, think that hot tub did us all in."

"Good to have that done though."

"I'll get busy on the valve today."

"Ok, Ziva said she's going to fill the cistern. She wants a bath; she got her clothes washed yesterday, but no bath yet. Which reminds me, where's the clothesline, I need to do some washing myself."

"It's up top, Ziva climbed partway up 2 palm trees so we could make the line high enough the goats won't be able to reach and eat our clothes."

"Oh geez, hadn't even thought of that."

"Ziva did, luckily. You know where those two palms are, about 15 feet apart?"

"Uh, yeah, think that's where Mitas picked up coconuts our first day."

"Yep, that's now our clothesline."

"Don't suppose anyone has dug up clothespins?"

"No, but I'm sure they'll show up. And maybe more tea for Ducky and Ziva."

"They running out?"

"Know they didn't have much."

"That's going to hurt if they do, caffeine withdrawal is not fun."

Gibbs glared at his junior agent as he shuddered internally at the fate he dreaded would happen to him someday. It would not be today though, and he took another sip of his heavenly brew. Wisely, Tim refrained from any other disastrous topics and was relieved when Ziva and her hot tea arrived.

After exchanging greetings, the three sat enjoying their hot beverages. Mitas grinned to himself, these people were endlessly fascinating to him and he loved listening in to their conversations, the shorthand they all seemed to speak with each other, especially with Gibbs. After the eggs were started the cook reached out with the heaviest wooden spoon and banged on the saucepan.

"Breakfast!"

Ducky and DiNozzo made their way from bed to the table and sat, obviously trying to wake up. Tim, laughing at the pair, rose and poured tea for Ducky and coffee for Tony. After handing out the drinks, he fetched the jar of sugar for Tony, who clutched it thankfully. Gibbs made a face as he watched his senior agent pour huge amounts of sugar into his coffee. Tim put a bucket of water on the grill to heat for the dishes, chased Mitas to the table and then served breakfast to the group.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Day Six: Back to Work

After the group finished breakfast Tim and Tony washed up and the others lazed around, idly talking about their plans for the day. Gibbs had already gathered what he thought he needed to make the valve for the hose and was using the far end of the table as his workbench. Most of the others wanted to continue the treasure hunt, until Mitas reminded them of the need to find fresh eggs.

Tim chuckled as he rinsed and dried, "A treasure hunt of a different kind!"

Tony smiled and said, "Don't forget we get to watch Gibbs try to find eggs; that should be entertaining." The two grinned at each other and for once Gibbs didn't seem to hear them. Tim had another bucket of water on the fire to do some washing; once that was ready he split the hot water between two buckets, first pouring a small amount of detergent in one, and then added a little cold water to both. He threw shirts, socks and underwear in, first letting them soak, then using a wooden spoon to swish everything around; putting the clean clothes in the rinse water.

Tony watched him; he'd never had to wash his clothes in anything other than a washing machine and so had had no idea how to do it. Tim swished his clothes around in the rinse water until he was satisfied, then hauled the bucket and clothes upstairs, Tony following behind. Tony hadn't said anything, but Tim guessed he hadn't known how to get his clothes clean and was a bit proud of Tony for realizing he needed to know and doing something about it rather than just complai…being upset about it. Since he had no clothespins, Tim wrung out each item and then draped it over the clothesline, Tony still watching.

Tim chuckled, "Well I've always hated ironing but Penny always insisted. Now I have an excuse!"

"Penny, is that your mom's name? Why do you call her by her first name?"

"No, Penny is my grandmother and she says it makes her feel old to be called Grandma. I lived with her and my step-grandfather for a few years."

"Oh, sorry, for once I wasn't trying to pry."

"That's ok, I'm the one who said it and I don't mind you knowing."

Tony nodded, okay, maybe they were learning to get along better.

"So, your step-grandad?"

"Yeah, my grandfather McGee died before I was born; Penny got married again, to Nelson Langston, also an Admiral."

"What was he like?"

"Nice guy, he was good to me, like a dad. He'd never had any children of his own, but he did really well with me." Tim huffed a laugh, "guess I was pretty well tamed by the time I went to live with them."

"How old were you?"

"Four."

"_Four_? You were still a baby."

"Not really, I was already reading and writing. Luckily Grandpa Nelson was a bookworm and a bit of an armchair scientist, so we got along well."

"Was he still active in the Navy?"

"Yeah." Tim answered that in a final sort of way so for once Tony didn't ask the other thousand questions he had.

As Tim finished hanging his clothes, he came to a decision. "Want to go for a walk, get some water from the spring?"

"Yeah, but better let me run down and get our hats or Ducky will be after us."

"Ok, I'll wait…in the shade." While Tim waited, he thought about how freeing yesterday's conversation with Gibbs had been and while he wasn't going to share as many details with Tony, he felt it was time to stop keeping Joey and the others a secret. He needed to heal and move on and telling Tony would help. He figured Mitas was the only other one who didn't know and they didn't know each other well enough yet.

Tony came back, carrying three more buckets and their hats and one of the WTs. "Ziva's helping Gibbs with the valve, so I said we'd start filling the cistern."

"Oh, good. Gibbs say anything about the eggs?"

"Just that we'd get to them as soon as he got the #% valve done. He's having a problem with it."

"Oh, probably a good thing we're up here then. I always thought eggs had to be gathered first thing in the morning."

"Yeah, me too." Shrugging, the two walked to the spring, noticing the ATV parked down a bit toward the bay, and filled their buckets. Walking back to the cistern, Tim took a deep breath, "Tony, as I told you, I had a bad night but that's not all it was. Yesterday morning, actually starting the day before, I was pretty upset, Gibbs helped me through it yesterday but I want to tell you why."

Tony swallowed, "If it was something I did or said, Tim…"

"No, NO Tony, it wasn't, I think we're good enough now I would just have said something to you. No, this has to do with my personal life, something I've kept pretty much to myself for nearly four years."

"That's when you transferred to the team."

"Yeah, and that's got a little bit to do with it. I had these three friends, Tony, and…" As they walked, their buckets full of fresh spring water, Tim told Tony of the loss of his friends in the tsunami and how the skeletal remains they'd found here had struck him so deeply.

As he spoke, Tony stopped him, put his buckets down, took Tim's, put them on the ground and then gave Tim a comforting hug. Tim reflected that he was learning just how much he was cared about and maybe he should let other people know that he cared too. So he gave Tony back the same strength he'd been given.

They parted; slightly embarrassed smiles on their faces; picked up their buckets and continued to the cistern. As they poured the water in, Tim noticed something new and brought it to Tony's attention. "DiNozzo, notice we have a following today?" Tony looked around and sure enough, three young goats, kids really, were watching them curiously. Or what he imagined was curiosity. They picked up their buckets and headed back to the spring and the goats followed along.

"Wonder how old they are and how long they've been here?"

"The one that Mitas found the other day was bigger, I'd guess full grown. Who knows how long the older ones have been here, but I'll bet these little ones were born here."

Tony sighed, "Can't wait to have milk in my coffee. Wish we could figure out butter and cheese!"

Tim laughed, "That'd be great! I wish we had an olive tree so we could make olive oil, just think of the meals you could make us!"

"The way things have been going the olive tree has just popped up out of the ground and will be fully grown by the time we find it."

"HA, that's good, DiNozzo, hey did you ever see that Star Trek episode where…" and once again they were off and running on their mutual love of Star Trek. They continued filling buckets and dispersing the water as the kids followed them back and forth. On their fourth trip to the spring Tony heard a chicken clucking and leaving their buckets, they quietly poked around the rocks finally finding the hen, proudly sitting on her newly laid eggs. Tim carefully lifted her off and held her away from him, while she squawked indignantly. Tony took the eggs, one by one and put four in his hat, leaving one behind.

Leaving the spring, the two walked carefully back down the stairs to the common area. When Gibbs glared at them, Tony showed their prize and Gibbs gave an approving nod. "Nice job, you two. I thought you were filling the cistern."

"We were, Boss, but we heard a hen clucking while we were at the spring, found her in the rocks and I held the hen while Tony took the eggs. We left one."

"That's fine. There's probably more hens in the area, just be careful, if it's warm out, you could encounter snakes trying to get to the eggs."

"Uh, maybe we'll finish filling the cistern then, Boss. Look for eggs in the morning when it's cool."

Gibbs just nodded and Ziva smiled, thanking them for filling the water tank. They could see parts scattered around the table, so they didn't ask how the valve was coming along.

The guys took their packs, making sure they had fishing line, hooks and some bait, and climbed back up and went back to the spring, regaining their audience as they walked. Tim looked back at the three young goats,

"Think we should name them?"

"Hmm, yes, but you and I get to do it, they followed us first! No committee."

"Ok. I've been thinking that the one on the left reminds me of a poodle one of our neighbors in Puerto Rico had, called Gigi. "

"Gigi goat…or just GG, HA, that's good! Ok, my turn, let's see, my favorite nanny's name was Phyllis, so the middle one there, with the little notch in her ear, she's Phyllis."

"I think #3 is male, saw him trying to hump GG a ways back. Got a good guy's name?"

"Duke!"

"What?"

"John Wayne, the Duke, Gibbs' favorite cowboy."

"Ok, GG, Phyllis and Duke."

Several trips later, they had finished filling the cistern and still had not seen Gibbs or Ziva with the fire hose, ready to test the valve. It was too early for lunch, so the two decided to walk to the bay and cast their lines, see if they could catch a fish or three. They were just about to the first cove when they spotted Ducky and Mitas hiking up the hill, carrying the kayak and two mismatched paddles. Mitas carried one of the packs on his shoulder and as he reached the top of the path, he and Ducky stopped. Grinning, Mitas pulled the pack open and handed Tim a bag of clothespins.

"Dang, I was hoping that was going to be a butter churn or an olive tree!" quipped Tony.

Tim laughed, "Or a book about how to make goat cheese!" They laughed at that and then all four of them reflexively looked down at the beach, half expecting to see a floating olive tree or large book. Seeing a lot more stuff but not either of those items, they shook their heads and parted ways. Ducky explained that he wanted to test the kayak's seaworthiness before they launched it anywhere outside their own private bay; that is the ocean inside their cavern. Tim had a thoughtful look on his face as he and Tony continued their walk to the beach.

"I wonder…"

"Uh oh, what you thinking about, McThinkTank?"

"If it just takes a churn to make butter, maybe we can either make a churn or do something that is like churning."

"Huh?"

"Well, churning is an up and down motion, right?" Tony nodded.

"So what if we tried putting some milk – or maybe it's cream we need – into a container and shaking it. "

"Think that will produce butter?"

"Or a milkshake!" Both laughed at that idea.

"So do we have any jars?"

"Yeah, I think I saw some come over from the boat the other day."

"First we have to learn how to milk the nannies."

"No, first we have to find the nannies, Tony."

"Oh yeah, good point."

"Hey can you make the ATV run on solar power?"

"Yep, I'm actually going to practice on it before I start dinking around with the boat."

"Oh no!"

"Better make sure we move everything to where we want it before I start converting it."

"I have faith in you, really I do, honest."

Tim snorted and they both laughed.

"You know, that feels good, hadn't realized how much we don't normally do that."

"What Tony?"

"Laugh, Probie. We don't laugh. Oh sure, maybe cynically or sarcastically, but we don't laugh in fun."

"Yeah, you're right, too wrapped up in our jobs."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"Enjoy the hell out of whatever time we have away from the dirtbags; here and on our way home." As Tim said this, they reached the trailhead leading to the bay and were surprised to see the ATV still parked there.

They decided they'd take it with them on the way back and started down the trail, startled when their three shadows bleated at them, repeatedly.

"Hmm, guess they're not allowed down here." Out of habit, the two stopped and looked down at the bay from behind the bushes hiding them from view, but saw nothing any different from previous visits. The propane canister could still be seen bobbing, although it had traveled to the south end now. Taking a look into the woods, they saw nothing there either. Motioning to Tony, Tim turned and started back up the path.

"What?"

"Who brought the ATV down here, Tony, and left it? We've been leaving it near the entrance. And call me paranoid but were our three new friends warning us just now?"

"Oh, yeah, good questions, let's give the others a call, you got your Sig?" Tim nodded and also patted his belt knife. Using the WT, Tony called Gibbs and heard him ask the others who had driven the ATV down to the bay and left it. When Gibbs came back on, he ordered them to leave the ATV where it was and meet them at the staircase…and to stay out of sight.

Changing their focus, the two men stealthily made their way back from cove to cove and to the entrance. Realizing it might be too late, they pulled a bush they'd uprooted earlier to use as camouflage and placed it in front of the entrance to their staircase. Descending, they found Gibbs pacing in the passageway.

"Report!"

"When we first walked to the spring to get water, we noticed the ATV parked at the top of the path to the bay. Tony had been helping me wash my clothes in the cavern and then we'd hung them out, so we thought it was one of you guys with the ATV."

"With the cart?"

"No, we took the cart off last night; it's hidden under some brush north of the entrance. It's still there, we checked on our way in.

"What did you see in the bay?"

"Nothing that wasn't there before. The propane canister was still in the water, but on the southern end of the bay, rather than the north."

"Anything else?"

"We didn't have the binocs with us, but we scanned with our eyes and saw nothing on the beach or in the woods. However, part of the beach is right below the path so we couldn't see all of it."

"Ok, good job. You had your weapons." Although this was not a question, both men understood it required an answer.

"Yes Boss, Sigs and knives."

"All right, come on down to the table to plan our strategy."

The two younger agents followed their Leader through the passageway to the common area. The others were already gathered and Ziva was cleaning her weapons, she had all three of her firearms on the table. Ducky even had his out, looked like he'd just cleaned it; Tim blinked, he could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Ducky with a firearm. Mitas was standing, shifting from one foot to another, looking very nervous.

"Mitas, come sit. You and Ducky were out in the first cove today. Notice anything different?"

"No Jethro." "No Gibbs."

"Did you notice the ATV parked near the entrance when you left here?"

"I don't remember, Gibbs, sorry."

"I'm afraid to say I don't think I even looked, Jethro. I…"

"That's ok, Ducky, no one's been hurt and we have plenty of daylight left to find this person or persons."

Ziva finished cleaning her third firearm and tucked it neatly in her ankle holster. Tim knew by now she would be completely decked out, all her throwing knives and firearms. His ankle holster was in his go bag but he would have to wait for dismissal before he got it. "There's one lucky thing. "

"What's that, Boss?"

"The cavern hasn't been empty all morning, so the boat's been protected."

"Think that's what they're after, the warhead?"

Gibbs shrugged, "Yeah, McGee, I do. We are still in possession of a secret nuclear warhead salvaged by the US Navy. And we don't have eyes on the other end of the island so there could be a boat anchored off that beach we've been ignoring or even on the southeastern part of the island. The only thing we do know for sure is that at least one other person besides the six of us is on this island and with the cistern, our clothes hanging out to dry and you two out there with the eggs and the buckets this morning, there's no way anyone could possibly think this island is deserted. And six of us means a boat, or at least a life raft. The boat or the warhead is what they're after. We'll protect both."

"Boss, could it be part of the Chimera crew, one of the life boats made it here?"

"Good theory, DiNozzo, I'd rather it be them than one of the Russians having survived somehow. We'll plan for worst-case scenario. Ziva, Mitas, come with me. Mitas, if it is a crewmember, or members, you're the only one who can recognize them, Ziva with your language skills you can recognize where our visitors are from. Tony, Tim, Ducky, I want you three protecting that 'prize'.

"Boss?"

"No dying, McGee; if push comes to shove, toss the damn thing overboard. In fact, that's not a bad idea. You two, kept your diving certificates in order?

"Yes Boss."

"Ok, get rid of that damn warhead; get it off the boat and into hiding. McGee, can you get coordinates without your GPS thingy?"

"Yes Boss."

"Good man, and Tim, rule 4 starting now. All right, who has a WT?"

Tim and Ziva raised their hands. "Ok, where's the third one?"

"In my pack, Jethro."

"Check it Duck." The elderly man reached for his pack and drew out his phone walkie-talkie.

Tim had a new and unpleasant thought, "Boss, the WTs are not secure, not like our phones."

"How not secure?"

"If someone had a radio or their own WT, they could hear our transmissions."

"We'd better start praying these are Chimera crew, folks. All right, Team, follow code 3. Mitas, you armed?"

"Yes, Gibbs, I still have Ziva's knife."

"Ok, if it comes down to it, lose the knife and tell them you were forced to come with us, which is true. Do you remember how you kept saying you were just the ship's cook? You meet up with whoever's out there, stick with that, tell whoever it is you don't know anything, especially where the warhead is. You won't know anyway, won't be lying."

"Everyone set, got water and a protein bar?" Nods from his surface team. "DiNozzo, you have point down here. Anyone comes down here with a weapon and doesn't speak English, rule 47. Try to keep the boat intact."

"Got it, Gibbs."

Gibbs looked at his two boys and his old friend for a few seconds and then gave a sharp nod; turning he led the way to the staircase. There Ziva took point as she had the sharper eyes in addition to her Mossad training and years of experience. Gibbs followed her and Mitas came up third, having been instructed to duck down as soon as he cleared the entrance.

With all the talk and preparation, he was still wondering what Rules 4 and 47 were, not to mention the mysterious code 3. Mitas was expecting to be attacked or worse, shot the instant his head appeared out of the entrance. When he wasn't he didn't feel any better that the birds were chirping, the sun was shining and somewhere to the south, a rooster was crowing. His hand on the handle of his knife, he quietly followed Ziva and Gibbs as they zigzagged behind cover, down the island to the bay. The goats the boys had reported as shadowing them were nowhere in sight and Gibbs was just as happy, didn't need any stray animals giving away their position.

XXX

As the others quietly left the cavern, Tim and Tony found the diving suits and suited up, with Ducky helping check their tanks and fittings. Ziva had retrieved two of the spear guns from the boat so they left their Sigs in Ducky's tender loving care. Entering the water, they swam to the boat. Tim grabbed the sextant with the compass and stuffed it into the dive bag he'd tucked into his belt.

The two of them carefully checked the lid of the lead-lined container that contained the nuclear warhead, making sure the padlock was secure in the tongue, then tied a drop line around it and lifted it to the edge of the boat, near the dive ladder. Tim got on the ladder and Tony carefully lowered the container to him, both of them determinedly not thinking about what being this close to the warhead might be doing to their bodies.

With Tony holding the drop line, Tim backed into the water and treaded water while Tony followed him down the ladder. Neither wanted to cause any turbulence by jumping straight in. Once both men were in the water and breathing from their tanks, they dove, a man on either end of the container.

Underwater, things were easier and they moved swiftly to the back edge of the cavern. Finding a rock ledge about 50 feet down, they tucked the container solidly under with a few large rocks on top. Removing the sextant from the dive bag, Tim was able to use the compass portion to mark the exact location, although he had to turn on the headlamp he wore on a band around his head.

Once he was sure of the numbers, he showed it to DiNozzo, following Gibbs instructions to use Rule 4, share with only one person. Making sure his headlamp was aimed so Tony could see, Tim held the compass in front of his partner's eyes until Tony nodded; he had it memorized. Both men bubbled sighs of relief as they headed back, first to the boat to secure the drop line and then to the shore.

Ducky had seen them reach the boat but he was still pacing anxiously along the beach, his radiation monitor held tightly in his hands. As soon as the two younger men reached the beach, he ordered them to strip to their skivvies so he could get an initial reading. Their readings were normal but they knew this could be misleading and it would take a few days before they could relax.

Ducky fussed over them, he had taken most of the fresh water Ziva had brought down from the cistern and insisted they bathe in the tubs. As lead on this operation DiNozzo refused, they could not stop to bathe, even one at a time, when they were at high alert and on protection detail. Ducky wasn't happy but realized the danger was still present and that nothing he could say or do would persuade either agent to disregard orders from Gibbs. He had brought their clothes to the table, so the two took turns changing into dry clothes in plain sight, still feeling the urge to keep their Sigs in their hands rather than their holsters. Once they changed, Ducky ran the meter over them again, finding the same results. Feeling useless and nervous, he took the diving suits and spread them over some of the flatter rocks to dry.

Tim regarded the man they so often relied on to keep them sane.

"Ducky, you know you're here with us because you're rated with a firearm, you're on protection detail with us; the three of us are here to protect the boat, not you."

"I know that, Timothy, but Jethro and I should have done that dive, if anything happens to the two of you, I'll never forgive myself."

"I thought you said there was nothing to worry about…back on the Chimera you said as long as that thing remained in the container, we were safe."

"So I did, dear boy, and I meant it. I'm just a worried old man; anxious to protect what family I have left."

Tony approached him, "Ducky, we're fine, we're going to remain fine. This is Gibbs, remember, he won't allow anything or anybody to harm us."

"He's not superman, Anthony, he's as human as the rest of us."

"Don't be too sure, Duckman." Ducky shook his head, ashamed for showing his vulnerability to his two young friends.

Tim and Tony split the guard, Tim watching the back entrance to the cavern, Tony with his eyes on the ocean-side entrance. Realizing that divers could enter the cavern without their knowledge kept them on the beach at full alert, Ducky now holding his weapon by his side.

* * *

A/N1: Code 3 is a code I invented. Gibbs originally initiated it for a specific case and is now re-using it, invoking advanced security. It is more detailed than a rule. Rule 47 is not specified in canon, so I decided it is: "Shoot first, ask questions later."

A/N2: Shortly after I'd written this part of the story, introducing the trio of 'kids', I was sent an ad about a place for rent that had goats & sheep on the property. I took that as an omen, have since moved there and I now help care for real live versions of GG, Phyllis and Duke. I never thought I'd be doing something like this, but it is fun and the goats and the 1 sheep are sweet when they're not being stubborn. And no, I don't milk them, I just feed them!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

Day Six: Baiting the Barbecue

The ATV was still parked at the head of the trail to the bay. Bent nearly double, Ziva crept over to the vehicle, felt the engine and motioned to Gibbs. It was cold, good, so it likely hadn't been moved since it was first spotted there this morning. Gibbs motioned to Mitas to stay down that is to say to remain under cover while the boss used the binoculars to sweep the bay. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. Gibbs handed the glasses over to Ziva as she crept farther south, far enough so that she could see below the trail and their location to determine if anyone was there. Gibbs watched her carefully and knew the second she spotted something. Looking over, she signaled one, male, and then she pointed to Mitas, indicating it might be a crewmember. Gibbs motioned for her to stay, then he tapped Mitas on the shoulder, he only jumped a few inches, and they quickly walked over to Ziva. She traded places with Mitas and handed him the binoculars. It took him a minute to find the person; but he did and let out a sigh of relief.

He turned and whispered to Gibbs, "Yeah, that's Crew Chief Rogers."

"He ever hang out with Ferris?"

"Not that I remember. Ferris only spoke with the other officers."

"What was your opinion of Rogers?"

"Ok, I guess, he didn't complain any more than anyone else about the chow."

"Ever hear him speak any foreign languages?"

"Not in the mess, Gibbs."

"Ok, good, Mitas thanks."

"You want me to go down and talk with him?"

"Not yet, we need to determine if he's by himself."

"Even if he's with the crew, Gibbs, wouldn't they be ok?"

"They don't know who we are, Mitas and I would expect the officers to be armed. Rather gather all the intel we can before we approach with caution."

Mitas nodded his understanding; impressed, despite his fear, with the way all four of the agents had reacted. He knew they were civilians like him, but their response to their leader, their stance and grasp of the situation all seemed very military to him. He supposed that was necessary in their line of work.

Ziva had crept north a bit, looking for a way to climb down the hill and come in behind Chief Rogers. Gibbs quietly told Mitas that Rogers was likely waiting for darkness to continue his exploration, figuring after all these days, probably at sea, the man needed food and water. Mitas had an idea and whispered it to Gibbs. Sighing, he nodded, it was a sound idea if dangerous, but they weren't ready for that just yet. Gesturing to Mitas, he pointed due south and the two, again keeping cover, worked their way to the cliff overlooking the beach. Raising slightly and using the binoculars, Gibbs had a good view of the entire southern end of the island, encompassed in a lovely white sand beach. Now he understood why Ducky and Ziva had been so excited about it. He saw no evidence of human life and no sign of a life raft or boat and much to his surprise, very little debris on the beach.

He scanned again, looked for anything that might have been a life boat, but saw nothing. Passing the binocs to Mitas, he told him what he'd been looking for and the cook spent several minutes scanning. Shaking his head, the man handed the glasses back to Gibbs. Since the two coves were still buried under debris, that left only the northernmost cove to check.

On their way back, Gibbs found several spots on the eastern edge to check for boats on the open sea. Nothing there either. He was beginning to believe Rogers was alone and that his lifeboat, or whatever had brought him here had been destroyed, too ravaged to be afloat.

They met with Ziva near the north edge of the bay trailhead and she shook her head, she had not found a usable path beyond what was there. That left them too vulnerable.

They would check the northern cove, then check in with the cavern team and deploy to carry out Mitas' idea. It would mean putting both Mitas and Ducky at risk and Gibbs was very reluctant to do that.

Checking the north cove, the original one they'd seen their first day here, they found nothing and turned back to the staircase, leaving Ziva on guard at the bay, with the binoculars.

Gibbs climbing down the staircase was pleased when he was accosted by the time he'd taken his second step. Barely avoiding stepping into a loop of rope, he grinned to himself, yep his team was the best! Tim was below the staircase in a good position to watch covertly and nab anyone coming in. Gibbs gave the password dictated by the use of 'code 3'; Tim stepped out into view and motioned them down. Gibbs headed down the steps, Mitas scrambling behind him. Gibbs motioned to Tim to follow them as he and Mitas went forward to the common area, Gibbs softly calling out the password.

Moving forward so that both Tony and Ducky could hear him, Gibbs explained what they'd found and the plan. Tony and Tim were passionate about their disapproval but then Gibbs hadn't expected either of the younger agents to be happy with it.

He asked them for other ideas and Tim pointed out that if he was truly convinced that Rogers was alone, they could safely leave the boat, move up top and have a barbecue; surely the smell would bring the man up from the beach. They could wait at the edge of the path and take him into custody when he showed himself. Gibbs liked the simplicity of it and really liked not having to put Mitas or Ducky at risk. However, if the man didn't rise to the bait, Mitas' idea might still need to be carried out.

Mitas finally spoke, "There's only one problem with that plan, Gibbs, no meat to barbecue."

"What about the ham, is there any left?"

"Yeah, but not much."

"That's ok; it's simple, listen..." Tim outlined his idea for providing food for all, including Crew Chief Rogers. Gibbs laughed quietly; leave it to their resident genius to come up with the simplest solution. For a minute, he was quiet, listening to his gut as he was reluctant to leave the boat without a guard. Ultimately, he decided the danger was in the bay with Chief Rogers and not with the boat; he nodded and his team sprang into action.

Taking the grill from the fire pit and gathering the wood they had left, Mitas, Ducky and Gibbs went up top while Tony and Tim stayed below. Finally, they did what they'd set out to do at the bay hours before, cast their lines to catch some dinner. Now however, they cast into the cavern waters, hoping their disturbance with the warhead had been forgiven and the fish would be curious. They were and soon the two had several decent sized fish caught and set about gutting and cleaning them.

Mitas had been in and out of the cavern a few times, gathering what he needed to make another delicious meal. None of them had had lunch, not counting the protein bars, so more than one stomach was growling.

Before the fish traveled upstairs, the anglers took the chairs up, figuring that would be easier for Ducky, Gibbs and with any luck, Chief Rogers. Mitas had already taken the plates and cutlery so when Tim and Tony arrived with the fish the only other thing they brought was the coffee pot.

Ziva had been briefed and now Tim went to relieve her. He watched through the binoculars as the Chief apparently continued his sleep and then he noticed the man's head moving. Mitas had thrown the fish on the grill several minutes ago and Tim could smell it from his vantage point; the breeze should carry the delicious scent down into the bay.

He looked back at his group and almost laughed as he saw Tony waving a palm frond over the fish, no doubt trying to help the wind. Ah, that was their Tony, always trying to reduce the tension while looking out for them.

Looking back at his subject, Tim saw he was now fully awake and visibly sniffing the air. Finally he started to get up and Tim winced in sympathy, it looked as if his leg was injured.

Using his WT, Tim called across to Gibbs and saw Ducky grab his medical bag, of course he would have brought it up with him and head over to his position, the others accompanying him. Mitas had moved the fish and the skillet off the flame and covered both, so their dinner would not be ruined or stolen by a goat, not that any of them were thinking of that right now.

As Ducky reached Tim, he held his hand out for the binoculars and grimaced when he had a clear view of the Chief's injured leg. "Really, Jethro, have you lot been looking at this all these hours and never thought to mention it to me?"

"No Ducky, his leg was out of view; I assure you, we would have advised you."

"Ah, thank you Ziva, I do apologize. Mitas, I'll need at least one bucket, perhaps two of hot water."

"No Duck, one of us will take care of that, Mitas needs to go with you, the Chief needs to see him."

"Ah yes, of course, Jethro."

Gibbs spoke, his eyes never leaving the beach, "One of you, go get the buckets and bring them up to fill and to heat."

"Ah boss, Tim's already gone to do that."

Gibbs smiled; anticipate that's what he'd taught his junior agent, he'd had a difficult time learning it, Gibbs remembered the infamous chase through a car wash, but once learned, never forgotten. When Tim returned with two empty buckets, he sent Tony with him to the cistern and watched them carefully place both buckets on the grill. Tim carefully cut off enough of their aluminum foil to cover the tops of both buckets, the water would heat faster and it would keep any bugs out. Waiting until both agents returned to the group, he gave their assignments.

"Mitas, you and Ziva go first. He's less likely to fear a woman, yes I know Ziva, but he doesn't know you, and he will recognize Mitas. Ducky, you'll be third and then Tim. Tony and I will stand back-up."

"Jethro, we may need to carry him up."

Tim spoke, "We'll handle it, Ducky, depending on your diagnosis. We can either help him up, or we can bring the cart down and pull him up on that."

Gibbs turned, "Tony, bring the cart over, we can have it ready to bring down if Ducky says it's necessary."

"Got it Boss." As the group prepared to descend, Gibbs called out softly, "When you get below, take your damn sun hats off."

They all reached up to their dorky hats, having forgotten they were wearing them. It had only taken a couple of days to get used to them. Tim smirked at Gibbs, who might have winked at him, then waved them on their way.

Tony returned with the cart and bungee cords, and then dashed downstairs for a couple of blankets. With the binoculars, Gibbs split his view between the procession down the hill and Crew Chief Rogers, who had resumed sitting, staring at his leg; hands in his pockets. He was looking around, no doubt looking for something he could use as a crutch when Tim prompted Mitas to call out to him.

"Crew Chief Rogers, it's me, Mitas, from the Chimera. Hang on; we have a doctor for you." As the Chief squinted, Gibbs realized his group was right in the sun and the Chief was not able to see them. Using his WT, he contacted Tim and had them move towards the shaded side of the beach. He saw the Chief's eyes when he recognized Mitas; he was surprised but not shocked, not outwardly anyway.

So he hadn't thought that Mitas was dead, killed by Ferris. That was a good sign. However, he would still be subjected to some serious questioning. The man removed his hands from his pockets and rubbed his mouth wearily; Gibbs focused and saw no weapons; that was good. Now the Team Leader stood on guard, watching, weapon ready as his crew approached the wounded man.

"Chief, it's Mitas, do you recognize me?"

"Yeah, Mitas, glad to see you, but sure hope you're not cooking here!"

"Actually he is; Chief Rogers and he's an excellent cook. Now, I'm Dr. Donald Mallard with NCIS, yes that's right. We were stranded much as you were, Chief. Officer David, do you have a bottle of water for the Chief?"

"Yes, Doctor, here." Ziva took the cap off, handing the bottle to Ducky to hand to the Chief.

"This is Officer David, also of NCIS and this young man is Special Agent McGee. There are additional members of our group; you'll meet some of them in a bit. Now have another sip and then if you can stretch out your poor leg?"

Chief Rogers handed the bottle back to Ziva who put the cap on and put it down, keeping her hands free. As the Chief tried to stretch his leg, he groaned in pain.

"I see, all right, Chief, let us help. Mitas, if you would take his calf there, gently dear boy, and Agent McGee, if you would provide some support for him."

Frowning, McGee stood behind the injured man and supported him with his legs, keeping a close watch on the man's hands and feet. One quick sweep with his good leg and he could toss Ducky and Mitas to the side. He looked at Ziva and she gave him an imperceptible nod, she understood and was on point. Tim had moved his weapon to the small of his back and kept his hands free. Ducky had looked at him rather crossly, no doubt wanting him to kneel behind the Chief to offer more support, but McGee had been trained by the best and bore the doctor's quiet indignation.

Gibbs watched from above and when Tony joined him, slapped him on the back. "Damn we did a good job with Tim! Look at him, DiNozzo, four years in and he's got the reflexes of a much more experienced agent."

When DiNozzo questioned what McGee was doing that had him so pleased, Gibbs just passed him the binoculars. Tony watched as his Probie gave support while not compromising the security of the team.

He also saw the younger man communicating non-verbally with his partner and felt a surge of pride.

He chuckled when he noticed the set of Ducky's shoulders and passed the glasses back to his boss, saying, "Watch Ducky."

Gibbs shook his head as he watched, "Yeah, he's pissed all right but McGee's not caving, security comes first and yeah, I see that, McGee. One good sweep with the Chief's good leg and he'd take both Ducky and Mitas out. Ah, Ducky, always a doctor first."

With Mitas' help, the Chief was able to stand, Tim remaining behind him and Ziva off to the side, both agents in constant sight of the man's hands and feet, Ziva also watching his eyes. The Chief was a young man, close to her own age and she imagined he would be as tall as Tim when standing straight. That was not currently possible, however, and when Ducky decided the leg was too badly injured for the man to walk, Tim simply looked at the top of the hill and gestured. Ducky turned to him and said, still obviously upset with the young agent, "Well Agent McGee, aren't you going to contact the others for help?"

"Already done, Dr. Mallard; some are on their way down now." He smiled at the Chief, "You're going to have the deluxe ride up the hill, Chief Rogers. We'll have you up top in no time."

As he spoke, he heard the cart clattering down the trail and then Gibbs and DiNozzo came into view. As they approached, he introduced them, "Crew Chief Rogers, these are Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo."

"Seems I picked the right island to land on, sure glad to see you all."

Gibbs gave him a cool look, "We'll have some questions for you, Chief, as soon as Dr. Mallard has your injuries treated and you've had something to eat and drink."

"What's cooking? It smells wonderful."

Tim replied, trying to keep his disdain for the man's earlier comment out of his voice, "That's Mitas' cooking, he's been creating feasts for us every day."

Mitas gave him a grateful smile.

"Huh, sure couldn't tell that on the ship. Ow!"

Somehow the Chief's good leg had been bumped, just a little bit, as he was lowered to the cart. Gibbs was glad Ducky hadn't noticed; there would have been hell to pay if he had.

The group worked their way up the hill, Mitas and Tony pulling the lead rope while Gibbs, Ziva and Tim pushed from behind. Ducky walked beside his patient when he could, other times dropping back behind the three 'pushers'. The Chief was well fastened into the cart; Gibbs had strapped his arms and legs to the cart, to reduce the risk to the patient and to them.

As they reached the top, Tim came up from behind and hooked the cart to the ATV. He gestured to Mitas and the young man, grinning, took the driver's seat and slowly drove his former shipmate to the barbecue pit, the agents walking alongside. They left the Chief on the cart, but helped him to sit up, leaning against the back of the ATV, much as Tim and Gibbs had the previous day. The Chief, however, had a blanket stuffed behind his back for cushioning.

Before the doctor was allowed to treat him, Gibbs, telling their visitor it was standard procedure, had Tony search the man. He removed a pocketknife, a cell phone and some change from the man's pockets.

"Just what did you think I might have on me, Agent Gibbs?"

"As I said, Chief, SOP. Ok, Doctor, he's all yours."

Ducky frowned but kept quiet, moving around to the Chief's bad leg, wishing he had a chair and his lantern as daylight was beginning to slip away. No sooner had he thought that than his lantern appeared, perched on a nearby rock and one of 'his' chairs was placed next to the wounded man, along with several strips of sheet and the buckets of nicely warm water.

Knowing he had behaved rather curmudgeonly toward the agents, the doctor concentrated on his patient, bathing the wound thoroughly and at times having the others hold the Chief still. Once the doctor was satisfied the wound was clean, he applied what little he had of an antibiotic cream and then started bandaging it with strips of sheet, glad he had taken the opportunity earlier to wash a few.

Remembering their conversation about the sheets, Ducky looked slyly at Gibbs, who just smirked back at him.

When he was finished, he quietly asked the agents to help him move the patient to one of the chairs, so he could sit up and eat. They had positioned a chair in front of a flat-topped rock; the Chief was deposited in the chair his injured leg propped up on the rock, the blankets cushioning it.

Mitas dished out the dinner, Ducky took a plate to his patient and Gibbs followed, holding a plate for Ducky. Looks were exchanged but nothing was said. The agents and Mitas perched on the rocks to eat and when everyone was done, they stood to start gathering everything, preparing to return to the cavern.

At a look from Gibbs, everyone, including Mitas, stopped; the Field Agents realized their Team Leader's gut was likely telling him something. Tim was relieved; his own gut had been firing rockets at him since the goats had bleated at them and knowing the man was crew from the Chimera had made it worse rather than better.

Gibbs glanced at the doctor, a question in his eyes and got a glare and a reluctant nod in response. With another look, Gibbs told Tony to take Mitas and the dinner things down below and stay on guard down there. Tim and Ziva got 'stay - guard duty' looks and immediately took position.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: The following chapter has legal information that may or may not be correct; I've used a bit of creative license. Enjoy the story and 'go with the flow'.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Day Six: A Traitorous Disruption

Gibbs' gut was indeed calling out loud and clear that something was off with this man. How had he gotten to the island, where did he come ashore, where was his lifeboat, why was he the only one in it, or the only survivor and why did he take their ATV, what had he planned to do?

Until Gibbs and his famous gut were satisfied with the answers, he would not allow this stranger into the cavern, where he could too easily access the boat and everything else they had.

With a slight tilt of his head, Gibbs dismissed Ducky and the man silently picked up his medical bag and disappeared into the night. Gibbs just sat, watching the Chief; David and McGee's positions signaling they were obviously guarding him. They sat and stood, silently for close to an hour, the lantern throwing out the only light. It was a cloudy night, the stars masked.

Finally, the Chief spoke, "Are we going to sit here all night, Agent Gibbs? I get that you have questions for me, just as soon get them over and done with. Do you people have shelter if it rains?"

Gibbs response was to walk around the chair that held Chief Rogers. He strolled back and forth a few times before speaking directly from behind the man and firing off his first question, causing the Chief to jump.

"How did you reach this island?"

"In a lifeboat."

"Were you the only one in it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I got off the ship just after the captain. The only other ones left were Ferris, who was sending a Mayday – and Mitas, who we thought was exposed to a deadly disease. Where is Ferris?"

"Doesn't work that way, I ask the questions and that does not tell me why there were no other crew members in the lifeboat with you."

"There were two crewmembers."

"Names!"

"Gellis and Wong."

"Where are they now, Rogers?"

"Gellis is dead, Wong probably is too; he jumped overboard."

"How did Gellis die?"

"He freaked out and drank untreated sea water, I couldn't stop him."

"Why would he do that, why didn't he use the de-salinization tablets?"

"I don't know. He was freaking out about everything."

"When did he start drinking the sea water, Chief Rogers?"

"Just that day, yeah, no, it was the second day."

"The second day, which was within the established rescue window?"

"Yeah."

"Why? The EPIRBs would let your superiors know where you were, you should have been picked up within 36 hours."

Rogers mumbled something. "What's that?"

"I said I don't know, Agent Gibbs." Gibbs just looked at him.

"I don't think the EPIRBs worked."

"Why is that?"

"Well, there were no helos or rescue boats."

"Did you check your EPIRB, maybe it was the batteries."

"No, I mean yes, I checked it, you're right, maybe it was the batteries."

"What happened to crewman Wong?"

"After Gellis died, Wong started freaking out too and he jumped overboard."

"When was that, Chief Rogers?"

"The third day."

"The _third_ day? He gave up just 12 hours past the rescue window?"

"Well, I don't know, maybe it was the 4th day."

"I see."

"Could have been, I was sort of in and out by then, you know how they say people get on the ocean."

"I don't, but I don't care either. How did you find this island, Chief Rogers?"

"I uh, I'd seen it on a map and headed straight here."

"A map, huh. Who told you the position of the Chimera, Chief Rogers? You're a non-commissioned officer. Are you telling me the captain of a spook ship shared the ship's position with anyone besides his XO?"

"Uh, yeah, he did, everyone knew once we were there. "

"Everyone, including the civilians?"

"Yeah everyone, no reason not to, we were already on board."

"I see." A long pause.

"Why didn't you stop at any of the other five islands that would have been right on your way here?"

"Uh, I don't know, the first one didn't have any fresh water and the second one was all rock and cliffs, no coves or anywhere to get onto the island. I just didn't like the looks of the other three."

"I see." Another long pause and the two guards noticed their suspect was starting to fidget, always a good sign in a Gibbs interrogation. They'd already caught him in two lies: the captain telling everyone their position, when Mitas had said they had not known and the number of islands along the way. Yes, during their own search they had circled other possibilities on the map but those were farther northwest from this location, Rogers would have had to make a very big circle in his lifeboat.

"When did you come ashore here, Rogers?"

"Last night, after dark."

"Where did you come ashore?"

"That bay, that bay where you found me."

"Where is your lifeboat?"

"I buried it, in the woods."

"That's kind of a big object to bury, what did you use?"

"Uh, I used a rock."

"A rock, to bury a lifeboat."

"Yes."

"I see."

"How did you hurt your leg?"

"I uh, while I was digging the hole for the lifeboat, I hurt my leg on a stump there in the woods."

"On what end of the bay?"

"The southern end."

"Why did you bury your lifeboat Rogers?"

"I was worried there would be natives here and someone would steal it."

"Why did you take the ATV?"

"Because I'd hurt my leg and I wanted to see what was on the island..."

"Such as?"

"Well, that hot tub for one thing, that was pretty strange."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully; yes, a hot tub on an island otherwise seemingly populated only by goats and chickens was a little unusual.

"Why did you hide, then?"

"I didn't know who was here and there was so much stuff in those coves, I … got a bit confused with the ATV."

"I see." Pause. "When you buried the lifeboat, did you see anything odd nearby?"

"No, just, oh, yeah, there's a propane canister floating in the bay. Are we done here? I'd really like a place to lie down, pretty tired."

"Oh yeah, I'd say we're very close to being done. Agent McGee, have you checked his cell phone?"

"Yes, Gibbs. He has several calls to an international number, the country code is Russia."

"Hey, that's my private property, you can't do that…"

"We have probable cause, Rogers; we can do whatever we need to."

"What probable cause, what are you accusing me of?"

"Officer David?"

Rogers finally noticed that both his guards were wearing disposable gloves. Now Ziva flicked open the pocketknife and revealed, instead of the usual tools and small blade, a lethal thin and sharp looking blade, covered in blood.

"That's my blood, I cut myself."

"Where?"

"On the ship."

"Where on your body?"

"On my…look I was being stupid, wanted to trim the pubes, ya know?"

"So you used what looks like a customized knife on your pubic hair and cut yourself?

"Yeah."

"Prove it."

"WHAT? No, I…no, I, it's healed already, ha-ha, lucky it didn't leave a scar."

"And you didn't clean your weapon, that's very un-seamanlike of you, Chief." Rogers finally shut his mouth.

"Interesting that a non-commissioned officer had a lethal weapon on board a spy ship, hidden in a pocket knife."

Gibbs paused, watching the man squirm. He would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't meant the probable murders of two innocent crewmen, the destruction of the Chimera, their own situation, families and friends left to mourn and who knows what had happened to the rest of the crew without their EPIRBs.

"Crew Chief Rogers, you are charged with espionage, terrorism and treason. When we test the blood on your knife, we'll add two counts of murder."

"You can't arrest me, we're in the middle of nowhere, how is there going to be a trial, what evidence to you have, how will I have a lawyer?"

"First of all, we have the authority to detain and arrest you anywhere NCIS operates and since NCIS supports the Navy, that includes the oceans, seas and several bodies of water around the globe. Secondly, since you have been charged with terrorism, no rights apply to you; you would normally be sent to Gitmo. You'll have to make do with the accommodations here."

"What accommodations? I haven't seen anything but a barbeque grill and a chair."

"Don't forget the hot tub," Gibbs said with a smirk. He nodded at Tim, who flourished his handcuffs and put them on their prisoner, making sure they were nice and tight but not enough to cause to stop blood flow into his hands. Ziva then brought out a sleep mask and a dark colored scarf and placed them on the prisoner so that he would not be able to see the cavern.

"One more thing. Officer David, have Agent DiNozzo join us and then you can join Mitas; also have DiNozzo bring Dr. Mallard as witness."

"Certainly Gibbs, should he bring the bag?"

"Witness, bag, Agent Gibbs! My God man, you can't just shoot me! You can't!"

"Why, are you innocent of the charges?

"I refuse to answer that on the grounds it may incriminate me."

"In other words, you're guilty. Very nicely done, pleading the 5th. Doesn't apply here, but nicely done. For your information, Rogers, eliminating a terrorist who is a threat to our nation's security _and_ a traitor _is_ within our authority. As federal agents, we have authority to detain or remove terrorists - with extreme prejudice."

Seconds later, McGee wrinkled his nose and Gibbs realized the prisoner had wet his pants.

"Crew Chief Keith Rogers, because you have been arrested for espionage and treason, we will be conducting a thorough body cavity search."

As DiNozzo and the doctor arrived, Ziva departed to continue the watch over the boat and the weapon that had started this whole thing, the nuclear warhead now buried in their small cavern bay. Mitas remained behind in the cavern. DiNozzo brought a clean pair of pants and underwear for their prisoner and several more pairs of disposable gloves for the body search.

Since he was in handcuffs, the prisoner was helped to stand and allowed to lean on the chair as his clothes were removed by the agents and every cavity of his body searched, including teeth and navel. Dr. Mallard witnessed and directed the agents when needed. They found a letter written in Russian along with rubles mixed with US bills in large denominations tightly rolled together, in his rectum and a listening device in his teeth. Tim took the listening device and found it non-operational. With any luck it had stopped working very soon after Rogers had activated it.

The evidence they'd found gave Gibbs, or any of his agents, enough to legally execute the traitor. While he considered, he directed DiNozzo and McGee to help the prisoner dress in clean clothes. He would allow him dignity at his execution.

The man was starting to gibber now and all four of them listened carefully as the traitor spilled everything he knew.

He had been in desperate need of money to settle gambling debts; he had only joined this special operation to make himself harder to find by his debtors. When Ferris realized he needed an assistant in his traitorous activities, he somehow found out about Rogers' debts and approached him with three seemingly innocuous tasks.

The three tasks that were assigned to him had not seemed particularly dangerous, nor had he thought them treasonous. The first was to distract the Executive officer, or XO, from what Ferris was doing, the second was loaning Ferris his cell phone and the third was to help Ferris remove the batteries from the EPIRBs imbedded in each lifeboat. There was no mention of death or destruction of the boat, or of any crewmember, just that another country wanted to take back what was rightfully theirs.

He had successfully completed all three tasks. Now he admitted to knowing what Ferris was up to. Rogers' first task had been to distract the XO while Ferris sent their coordinates to a Russian submarine just out of sensor range, the assault craft (now floating peacefully in their cavern) and crew ready and waiting to launch. The second task the agents already knew was successful by the list of calls on Rogers' cell, international numbers, as Tim said, with the country code for Russia. The third one the agents also knew was successful; while still on the Chimera, Tony found the plastic bag of batteries that Tim had identified as being the kind used by EPIRBs.

When he finished spewing out his story, he promptly spewed out his dinner and Gibbs made his decision. "Bind him, feet, legs and hands, yes Doctor, they will be careful of his injury on the way to his death."

He paused and looked at the suddenly pale faces around him. Knowing the prisoner could not see him through the mask and scarf, he shook his head at them.

Ducky closed his eyes, Tim gave his Boss a look and turned away, Tony examined the night sky, all three working to control their emotions. Killing a criminal on the run or in self-defense was one thing, killing with extreme prejudice, an execution, was another. They figured Ziva had killed in cold blood as a Mossad operative but neither of the younger agents wanted to face the aftermath if not necessary.

"McGee, DiNozzo, after the prisoner is bound keep him blindfolded and carry him to our quarters. He will have shelter there, remaining cuffed, bound and blindfolded."

"Gibbs, I will need to check his wound."

"Of course Doctor, you will have access to him." The two watched the two younger agents pick up the trembling man and carry him to the stairs. McGee went down a few steps and Tony followed him. The man would know he was being taken down a set of stairs but he wouldn't know what awaited him. Gibbs intended that their prisoner would never lay eyes on the boat or the interior of the cavern. He would be allowed time outside every day and that is the only time he would be without his blindfold.

It meant a huge change in their plans; two agents would need to guard the prisoner at all times, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Gibbs sighed; this was not going to be fun.

"Jethro, I do appreciate your humanitarian decision, and yes I understand you did it for us – and you - not the traitor. I do not think I could stand to see another execution, no matter how well earned. However, how are we to proceed with him as prisoner? Unless we fashion some sort of cell, he will need to be guarded every second."

"I don't know, Duck, we'll just have to do what we have to do."

"There isn't enough wood to build a cell and the additions for the boat you have planned."

"No…but…"

"What Jethro?"

"That black container isn't big enough for him to live in, is it Ducky? I mean, if I cut a rectangle in it for a window and holes for air?"

"No it is certainly not, Jethro, however…I believe I did see another container in the first cove, when I was with Cory fetching the kayak earlier, good grief, was that just this morning?"

"Afraid so, Duck."

"If I am not mistaken, the container we saw was larger than the black one, yet nowhere near the size of a shipping container. I imagine it would meet the legal requirements for the dimensions of a cell."

"Great, so we can stop all our other plans and get that in place starting tomorrow."

"Yes I suppose so, my friend."

"Come on, I'll give you a ride on the ATV and help you take your chair down."

"I feel it's been soiled now, Jethro."

"Why, he didn't pee while he was sittin…oh, I see what you mean. Well, wash it off then, old man. Nothing like a little hot water and soap."

The two took the bits and pieces that had been left up top and returned to their cavern. When Gibbs entered the main cavern, he experienced a strong feeling of violation. Realizing that as isolated and stranded as they were and as worried about their friends and family, this was becoming home, or at least a temporary home. His team, now including Mitas, had begun to enjoy their life here. That had ended this evening when the prisoner had invaded their private space, their home.

He spied the prisoner on the far side of the cavern, huddled on some blankets while Tony stood guard. The man remained bound; Gibbs realized his agents would not release the bindings without a direct order from him. He'd have to get used to that.

While they investigated, chased down, questioned, interrogated and arrested criminals, they had rarely been responsible for one after the arrest and transport to lockup. This was a new ballgame and he would have to channel his younger self as an MP to get his head in this game.

He turned to Ducky, "Can he sleep with those bindings on, Duck?"

"Yes, I checked them before the boys brought him down, they're not inhibiting blood flow. However, he'll need them off for a few hours a day."

"During mealtimes, would that be enough?"

"Yes, if that were to equal three hours a day; that would be acceptable."

"Ok, so mealtimes and during his exercise time. His eyes will be completely covered every second he's down here," Gibbs gestured around the cavern, "is that a problem?"

"Not with his health, Jethro; he will be able to go without when up top, yes?"

"Yeah."

"All right. He will need exercise."

"Oh, he's going to have it, he's going to be our gardener once Tim gets everything planted. He can pull weeds, water or whatever needs doing within the fence that just got taller and stronger. Hey Duck, think we could train the goats to guard him?"

Both men chuckled, but Ducky looked thoughtful, "I suppose it is possible, Jethro. They're certainly intelligent beasts. Perhaps GG, Phyllis and Duke are young enough to be trained."

"Who?"

"The three young goats, kids still, who followed Timothy and Anthony all morning. They were the ones who alerted them that something was amiss in the bay, when the boys went near the path, the three bleated and bleated until the boys backed away. They had already named them GG, Phyllis and Duke."

"Ok, this I've got to hear, why the names?"

"GG because that young one reminded Timothy of a neighbor's dog when he was young, Phyllis was the name of Anthony's favorite nanny and Duke for your favorite cowboy, John Wayne."

Gibbs started to laugh as he said, "Gary Cooper…is my favorite cowboy …but Duke is good… Ducky… needed that. Only my boys … would come up with…" Gibbs' laugh grew until it was so loud it startled everyone and scared the prisoner as it echoed throughout the cavern. Finally recovering, the Team Leader motioned all of them to gather at the table, Ducky relieving Tony at his guard post.

Once Tony reached the table, Gibbs pulled him aside and asked him if the prisoner had said anything or made any noises. Tony said he had asked if they were underground and when told they were, the man started crying and praying a bit, but nothing after that.

"When Ducky and I were talking just now, DiNozzo, could you hear us or any of the others in the common area?"

"No Boss, not until your laugh, scared the crap out of Rogers. But just regular conversation, no, not even a murmur."

"Ok, maybe Mitas knows whether this guy has any super hearing."

"Like you Boss?"

Gibbs smiled and then tilted his head in agreement. "Yeah, actually, DiNozzo, like me, that could be a problem. C'mon, let's go lay out our new game plan."

Sitting at the table with the others, he gave Mitas a careful look to see how he was holding up. Mitas looked at him with a half smile, "I'm ok, Gibbs, kind of shaken up, but I'll repeat what I said our first day here, I'm sure glad I'm not a bad guy."

"So am I Cory! Tell me, do you remember Rogers exhibiting any kind of super hearing, sorry, that's what the guys call my hearing, extra powerful hearing? Say responding to a conversation from across the room or anything like that?"

Mitas thought a moment and shook his head, "No, I don't remember anything like that but he kept to himself, at least in the mess hall, he didn't usually sit with anyone there."

"Ok, so we'll work on keeping our voices down," Gibbs looked at Tony, "just in case."

"Boss we could test him, say something that would attract his attention and see if he responds? Might take a couple of tests, but that's easy enough."

"Good thinking Tony. Ok, you four put your heads together and come up with a couple of remarks. No fighting or arguments though, I don't want to have him trying to mess with any of us. He did tell us he's a gambler though."

Gibbs paused as he looked at each of them. "You all did great jobs today. Mitas, you followed Tim's instructions very well, calling out to Rogers and approaching him. While you were helping Ducky, were you aware of what Tim and Ziva were doing?"

"Yeah, after I noticed Tim telling Ziva stuff with his hands and eyes. They were guarding us; to keep Rogers from doing anything."

"Yes, good catch, and Tim, great work, Ziva too, not sure Ducky caught on until later, but you hung in there doing your jobs. Mitas, we also use sign language so if you'd like to learn, let one of us know. You also caught on to not using our first names or nicknames, good job."

Gibbs paused for a breath. "We will continue doing that, people; he is not to know our first names or Dr. Mallard's nickname. Also, address him as prisoner, not his name. Got that? I want to hear that."

"Yes Boss." "Got it Boss." and two voices saying "Yes Gibbs."

"Good. Mitas keep up the good work and we'll have you half trained as a field agent by the time we get home." He patted the young man on the shoulder, which felt pretty good to the young cook.

He continued, "Since you are new to this, I'll tell you why not using the prisoner's name is important. In interrogations and in his case, prison time, using someone's name, especially their first name or nickname, establishes a connection. Prisoners hope to build on that, start to push to build on that connection, hoping to get special privileges or even help to escape. I don't want any of us to have any connections with him. He will be fed, watered and exercised, that's it. There is to be no making friends or feeling sorry for him. He's a murderer; Cory, I don't know if you've been told, but it is highly likely he murdered crewmen Gellis and Wong. They started out in the lifeboat with him but he gave two very transparent stories about them 'freaking out', Gellis drinking seawater without the tablets and Wong basically jumping overboard…"

Mitas interrupted, "No way! I don't believe that, Gibbs. Gellis was the one who always helped everyone at drill and Wong had the most common sense of anyone I've ever met, until I met you guys."

"Good man, that's important to know. His pocket knife hides a lethal knife with blood on it, when we're someplace with a lab, we'll have it checked for their DNA. He also admitted to colluding with Ferris, so he's guilty of espionage, terrorism and treason. No names, no connections, no conversations with him." Again he looked at each of them and received agreement.

Next Gibbs told them of his plan to have the prisoner bound except for three hours a day, including mealtimes, which would be taken within the newly designated 'prison' area. During meals, his hands would be uncuffed but feet and legs were to remain bound. He next explained the blindfold and finally told Mitas, since the others had already figured it out, that this had changed everything, the prisoner would be under guard 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also put forth his idea of prison gardening, and saw that Tim was at least thinking about it. Lastly, he mentioned the container that Ducky and Mitas had seen this morning and talked about making it into a cell.

"We'd have to float it in here, Boss."

"Yep, we can use that barge Ducky and I found."

"And cut holes in it for air and light?"

"Yes."

"I wish we had a security camera we could rig up while he is inside; that would make me more at ease."

"As soon as I get my olive tree, Ziva, your security cameras are next."

That started the three younger men giggling while Ziva stared at them and then at Gibbs, perplexed. Tony and Mitas were beginning to calm down when Tim pulled a bag of something out of his pocket and said, "Why not, I got my clothespins." Off they went again. Recognizing the sounds of exhaustion after a long and eventful day, Gibbs glared at them and then sighed, turning to Ziva.

"Yes, Gibbs, I think I had better relieve Ducky for the next shift of guard duty."

"All right, you lot, off to sleep, wait, Mitas, is there anything that needs to be done tonight?"

"Make more coffee, that's it, Gibbs."

"I can handle that and I'll bring you some tea before I turn in, Ziva."

"Thank you Gibbs."

"I'll relieve you for the third shift and McGee can take the following one. Take one of the chairs, he's not going anywhere as bound up and exhausted as he is tonight."

"I appreciate that, Gibbs."

Gibbs waited until the younger men were asleep and then walked with Ziva over to Ducky and the prisoner, who appeared to be asleep. Ziva and Ducky exchanged places and the older man walked back to the common area with his friend. "I'm just going to make Ziva some tea, Ducky, then I'm going to get some shut-eye, I have third shift, then McGee will follow."

"Very well, Jethro, she should have a new tea bag then, rather than a used one, she'll need all the caffeine she can get."

"You are running out then. Tim was telling me that, hoping to find some tea in amongst the ruins. "

"Ah dear boy, I do owe him an apology for my behavior toward him today."

"Think he understood, Ducky, he has met you before, you know."

"Ah well, I will speak with him in the morning. Good night, Jethro, get some sleep, eh, don't stay up worrying."

"Me worry? Yeah, ok, Duck, I will…sleep that is." Gibbs waited until Ducky returned from the men's room and lay down; then turned the lantern down, but not off, that was no longer feasible. Walking over toward the prison area, he waited to catch Ziva's eye and then signed to her that he was turning in, to whistle if she needed anything. Smiling, she stuck two fingers in her mouth as he'd taught her, although she did refrain from the actual whistle. He turned and headed to bed. It was 2200; he would relieve Ziva at 0400.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Day Seven: Third Shift

Third shift. Gibbs woke at 0330 as planned and made a small fire, just enough to make his coffee and burn a couple of pieces of bread. He'd meant to toast them, however they weren't too badly burnt and he spread peanut butter on them while he waited for his coffee. Breakfast eaten, he checked his weapons and poured a second cup, taking it with him to relieve Ziva.

Once off duty, Ziva headed for her bathroom, had a bite to eat and gladly went to her bed. She left a note on the table to wake her no later than 1000. Six hours should be enough for her, although she suspected Ducky would order she not be wakened for an additional hour.

Knowing Gibbs was already up and on guard duty, Mitas took an extra half hour, rising at 0500 rather than his usual 0430. He noticed Tim waking as well and saw Ziva's note. He built the fire back up and made another pot of coffee, not bothering with tea water just yet. When the coffee was ready, he was torn; he didn't know if he was allowed in the 'prison area'. When Tim arrived, the young agent shook his head and pointed to himself as he poured a cup for Gibbs and walked off to hand it to his Boss.

From the scribbled schedule he saw on the table, he knew he was to relieve Gibbs at 1000, but nothing said he couldn't bring the man more coffee before then. He automatically checked his weapon before he left the common area. Feeling the slight weight gave him a feeling of reassurance as he walked through the rocky sand to his boss who was standing at parade rest. Gibbs smiled when he smelled the fresh brew headed his way and the smile got warmer when Tim got closer. They exchanged cups as Gibbs handed over the empty one and his hand brushed Tim's just slightly as the cups changed hands. Tim looked over at the prisoner and saw he also must have smelled the coffee as he was visibly waking. Tim signed to Gibbs, asking him if he wanted him to stay, but Gibbs signed no, and to make sure one of the agents walked shotgun, literally, with Mitas when he brought breakfast. And only spoons, for both guard and prisoner. Tim signed something cheeky to his boss and got a little headslap and a grin in response. As they signed, the prisoner called out that he had to relieve himself, so Tim signed he would bring a bucket over and provide a second guard while the man's cuffs were loosened enough so that he could manage. At that point they realized that the prisoner was blindfolded and so would not be able to see the bucket.

Looking beyond the area where the traitor had slept, Gibbs saw an area of sand far enough away from the rest of their 'living quarters', and pointed to it, signing it would have to do for now, to forget the bucket, they would have to figure that out later. Helping the man stand up, Gibbs loosened the cuffs while McGee made sure the prisoner knew there were two of them watching him. One of the things they had not told him was how many were in their group, so he would have no way of knowing how thinly stretched they were going to be with guard duty.

Once the prisoner did his business, he was taken back to his sleeping area and after asking for and being denied a cup of coffee, he stretched out and lay there quietly. Tim remained, signing with Gibbs, both keeping their eyes on the prisoner. After a few minutes, Tim noticed the man try to move his hands and arms toward his chest and pointed that out to Gibbs. Now the man was writhing on the blankets and Gibbs drew his weapon, not sure it wasn't a ruse, as Tim ran to wake Ducky. He was already awake and had just put water on for tea when Tim came running, Ducky grabbed his bag and hurried after Tim, back to the prisoner.

Mitas, a little scared, woke Tony and told him what he'd seen. Tony told him to stay with Ziva, threw his sweat pants on and grabbing his weapon ran across to the prison area. He arrived just in time to see Ducky stop Jethro from doing any further CPR as their prisoner was beyond help. Ducky speculated on a heart attack, but would do the best autopsy he could under the circumstances. Standing over the dead man, Gibbs briefly hated himself for the immense relief he felt. He hadn't ordered his death; as much as it was sanctioned, an execution would still have been his order, his responsibility. Now they would not have to waste time guarding the man, keeping him from seeing the cavern and most importantly the boat and the possibility of him figuring out they had the warhead. Hearing Tim beside him, he looked at the young man's face to find the same look of relief he knew was on his own. Turning, he saw Tony had joined them and stood looking down at their dead prisoner; also relieved.

Gibbs spoke, "We did everything by the book. We have it documented and we have the evidence. He didn't eat anything we didn't eat; in fact he ate before I interrogated him. There was no hint, no suggestion of anything beyond his leg wound, right, Ducky?"

"Yes, Jethro, I gave him an exam after I'd taken care of his leg and while his blood pressure was somewhat elevated, it was not high enough to cause concern on my part. Everything else was clear."

"Then it was nothing we did, Boss, Ducky, it could have happened on the Chimera or in the lifeboat."

"Yes, Anthony."

"It's ironic, isn't it? He found us; he must have suspected we had the Russians' boat and the warhead. So he murdered two men to get here, he found the prize, the thing that started all this and then that was it. No chance to redeem himself."

"You mean no chance to help with your garden, Probie!"

"DiNozzo!"

'Thwack'

"Too soon? Won't happen again, Boss."

"Ducky, how soon can you do the autopsy?"

"Why Jethro? Oh, I see your point; yes I will do it right away."

"No, we eat first, Duck, we probably won't be too interested afterward."

"Where are you going to do it, Ducky?"

"I think up top, Timothy, would be the best."

"We'll carry the body."

"Go eat, all of you. No, leave him bound Duck and we'll continue guard duty until you're ready to take him upstairs. McGee, go eat and then you can relieve me."

"Yes Boss." Shaking their heads, the three men walked off.

Hearing their slightly raised voices, Mitas felt safe enough to return to the fire pit where he started breakfast. When the three men crossed the sand toward him, he poured the eggs into the skillet, quickly cooked them and then took the skillet to the table, along with the coffee pot.

"What happened? I stayed up by the beds until I heard you guys talking a little bit."

"He's dead, Mitas."

"Rogers…I mean the prisoner?"

"Yes lad, I believe I'll find he had a heart condition that was likely triggered by all the stress."

Mitas looked carefully from one face to another. There was a weird vibe. "I don't get it, what's with you guys?"

"He died on our watch, Mitas, so that's not good. However, it was natural causes and as Boss said, we did everything by the book."

"I kind of heard last night, Gibbs could have just shot him, executed him?"

"Yes, with the proof we found on his body last night, his execution would have been legally and I suppose morally sanctioned."

"That was up to Gibbs?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why…why he didn't do it? I mean I don't want to sound bloodthirsty, but it was going to be a lot of extra work."

"Yes it was."

"So why didn't he do it?"

While DiNozzo sat reflecting, McGee thought he had part of the answer.

"Sanctioned or not, whenever we kill someone, Cory, it hurts us and however much we may deny it, takes a little piece of us. Yeah, it's part of our jobs and if we couldn't handle it, we'd find other jobs. But we're here. Gibbs is a former Marine and certainly killed during the course of his career with the Corps.

Each of us have killed people in the line of duty, but that's normally during a crisis situation, not a standing still aiming and firing at a person who is also standing still, blindfolded and unarmed. That's a whole different matter.

I think Boss has given up enough pieces of himself to death. I also think he was…concerned about the affect it would have on each of us. But I will say, Mitas, that I'm relieved. Not so much that the man is dead but that we won't have to stop what we need to do to guard him and care for him."

"But you guys are upset, I can see that. Aren't you used to this?"

Mitas jumped when Ducky pounded his fist on the table, "NO, Cory! Violent death, unnecessary death is never something to get used to. If one does, it's time to hang up the badge or in my case scalpel because it would mean one has lost one's humanity."

"Oh, ok, I didn't understand that. It all looks so casual on TV and the movies, like it never bothers cops."

Tony finally spoke, "TV, movies, Mitas, those are all fictional. It bothers any of us who are still human."

Mitas nodded, "Thanks guys, I didn't know this. I guess I'm relieved too, like Tim; not that he's dead, but that we don't have to stop everything. And that Gibbs didn't shoot him last night."

"Yes, we're all grateful for that, lad."

McGee stood with Gibbs' plate and coffee pot. "I'm going to relieve him until Ducky's ready."

"Ok, I don't get that either, why are you guarding a dead guy?"

"Because, my dear boy, until I safely finish the autopsy, none of us will rest easy."

"Huh?"

"Anthony, perhaps you can tell him about the sar…"

Mitas was taken aback when both Tony and Tim quickly interrupted the doctor, saying, in unison, "Classified."

"Oh yes, of course. Mitas, we'll try and explain later, will that suffice?"

"Sure Doctor."

McGee took the food and coffee to Gibbs and stood guard while he ate. Tony soon joined them and the two younger men stood; silent sentries. Gibbs had just taken his last swallow when Ducky arrived, with Ziva in tow.

"She awoke on her own, Jethro, no need to glare at me."

"Yes, I did, I believe it was the eggs that woke me; they smelled so good. Ducky has told me of our good fortune." She looked around at their faces, "Yes, a man is dead, but he deserved to die and we have the proof. This means we may resume our work to reach home and not have to care for him. Do none of you see it as a blessing?"

Ducky cleared his throat, "Quite the contrary my dear, we all see it as a blessing however we feel a bit guilty for feeling that way."

"I see…no I do not, not really."

Tony opened his mouth and she held up her hand, smiling, "That is all right, Tony, I know that I sometimes express things that the rest of you would rather keep to yourselves."

Gibbs nodded, that about said it all, and he stood, putting his plate on the chair. "Ready, Duck?"

"Yes, I'll need a solid surface to work on up top."

"Piece of plywood on the cart work?"

"Yes, I guess, that is rather low though."

"Would plywood on the bench work better, Ducky?"

"Yes, but then I fear it would be tipsy."

Gibbs stepped back into the conversation, "We could float him on the plywood in the water, Ducky, but then you'd have to be in the water. Or we could find a level place to put the plywood on the rocks."

McGee looked over at the boat. "Uh Ducky, I hate myself for suggesting this, but could you do it on the table on the boat. Put the plywood on the table? Or on a bunk? "

"The table is perfect, Timothy, with the plywood on top. Excellent."

"Ok so I guess we're going to swim the body over?"

"Actually dear boy, the kayak Cory and I brought back yesterday is seaworthy; we can tie him to that and float him across to the boat."

"So we'll swim and he'll be on the kayak?"

"Yes Anthony."

"All righty then, going to just put on some dirty clothes, be right back." They chuckled as Tony sped off and the tension decreased considerably.

Tim laughed outright as Gibbs and Ducky, looking thoughtful, excused themselves as well. He guessed most of his clothespins would be in use by this afternoon.

Within minutes, everyone was in place and the piece of plywood was tied onto the kayak, it would go over first and the 'operating table' would be prepared while the others returned for the body. Gibbs would stand guard on land until the body was moved and then all but Mitas and Tony would join Ducky on the boat. The others would stay with Ducky until the doctor was certain all was safe.

Tim and Tony floated the wood over on the kayak, Ducky's instruments and dry 'work' clothes on top. They soon had the table in place and the plywood placed on top. Two of Ducky's sheets were placed over the plywood. They returned in the kayak, carrying it onto the shore and over to the body.

Ducky allowed Gibbs to remove the blindfold and sleep mask as well as the bindings, thus saving his precious rope and Ziva's scarf and sleep mask, not that anyone thought she would ever use them again.

They left Tim's cuffs on the dead prisoner for now and Tim tried to remember if they had any rubbing alcohol or better yet, bleach, and then retracted that thought, he would rather have the olive tree. He could just say he had lost the cuffs and order a new pair when they got home.

The body was lifted onto the top of the kayak and the rope fastened securely around it. Tim and Ziva did escort duty this time and were met by Gibbs who helped them carry the corpse up and over to the improvised operating table. Ducky arrived and headed below to change into dry clothes for the actual autopsy.

The Field Agents had floated their weapons over with the plywood, although in the same waterproof bag that had carried them previously and stood, impatiently waiting for this to be over. The agents tensed as Ducky made the first slice into the man and then relaxed, feeling a bit silly. Ducky continued with his work, talking himself through as he was wont to do, although usually Jimmy would be there to listen and learn.

When Ducky announced he was proceeding to the heart, he muttered to himself for a bit, then there was silence and then Ducky reached out to Gibbs, "Jethro, look." Jethro peeked inside and then said, very distinctly, "Bomb, need to carefully get him overboard and as far away from the boat and out of the cavern, now!" Tim grabbed legs, Gibbs the shoulders of Rogers' corpse and heaved, Tim yelling for the kayak, Ziva jumped in the water and held the kayak as they got the body into the kayak and then the three of them, moving as fast as they could, pushed the little craft as close to the opening of the cavern as possible.

Luck was with them, the tide was running out, and the kayak swiftly disappeared from view as Ducky did a neat swan dive off the boat and all four of them made a mad swim for the shore.

The bomb blew as the kayak floated just inches away from clearing the opening of the cavern. The narrow rift that had been the opening was widened by several feet with rocks falling into the open ocean and the waves inside the cavern crashing wildly on the shore, nearly up to the fire pit. The boat rocked violently but did not overturn.

They later figured that had the blast happened further inside the cavern, it would have been catastrophic, destroying at least the boat if not causing a huge rock fall, destroying the entire cavern and likely them with it. Tony dragged Mitas up to the sleeping quarters as soon as he saw Gibbs and Tim pick up the body and carry it back to the kayak. After several tense minutes, when the turbulence had lessened, the group reunited.

Much to Mitas' confusion, Tim and Ziva had the diving suits in their hands and were trying to put them on, while Gibbs and Ducky were trying to pull the suits away from the two. Finally, Gibbs yelled, "Stop!"

Both agents stopped and Ducky took the suits from both of them.

"It was stable before, your risk was minimal. We don't know that now and I refuse, _we_ refuse to let any of you young ones go."

"But Ducky, only Tony and I know where it is. One of us has to go."

"No, Timothy, one of you _does not_. You will tell Gibbs the location, yes, I am aware that violates whatever rule you are operating under but that is .BAD. Now tell him so we can put these on and get moving."

Grabbing Tim by the neck, Gibbs steered him away from the others while they had a quick and quiet conversation. In the meantime, Tony turned to the box the dive suits had been in, knowing the compass was in there.

"We had to use our headlamps; the water's still churned up and murky, so you'll probably need extra light to read the compass." Tony pulled out two of the underwater lights and put them in a dive bag along with the compass.

As Ducky and Gibbs prepared to leave, Tim spoke again, "Just get in there and check it. If it needs to be moved, move it, don't bring it back up if you can avoid it. Please be safe, both of you, we love you."

Mitas was astounded and, for a minute he thought Gibbs was going to headslap Tim but instead he flashed the Peace sign at them while Ducky laughed at him, really, Jethro was such a child of the 60s. Mitas suddenly realized he knew what he could do to help and he ran to the fire pit, righting the grill and rebuilding the fire; putting water on for tea and making a new pot of coffee.

Tony and Tim paced while Ziva threw her knife at an imaginary target in the sand and cursed fluently in Hebrew. Tony stopped, "We're wasting our brains here guys. We should be figuring out how Rogers managed to attach a bomb to his heart…that is what it was, Tim? "

"Yeah Tony. I heard Ducky muttering about a pacemaker, which I didn't think you could have and still be active in the Navy, not to mention he couldn't have even been 30 years old and then Ducky's eyes got big and he just reached out and grabbed Gibbs; almost shoved his face into the guy's chest. Then I heard, "Bomb, get the body overboard" and I knew we probably had 3 minutes tops before the explosion. Something like that would have to be pressure triggered or in this case, triggered when the pressure was relieved."

"So when Ducky opened the chest cavity…?"

"Yeah, that's probably when the countdown started and it would have been a short one, it was likely programmed for maximum damage to the maximum number of people."

"How would it have been placed on his heart, Tim? During surgery of some sort?"

"I doubt it, Ziva. If Ferris found out Rogers had a pacemaker, he could have made it so the thing, if swallowed, would find its way to the pacemaker and stay lodged there until triggered."

"So when did Rogers swallow it?"

"At some point before I put the cuffs on him last night."

Mitas spoke up. "No, well yes, it was before you put the cuffs on him, but it was before that, while he was on the beach. When we were walking toward him and I called out to him, he had his hands in his pockets and he took them out and rubbed his mouth. I remembered wondering if he was that tired, you know, that he would rub his mouth and face like that."

"Ok guys, this is good, now we have something to report when the Boss and… oh, hi Boss, Ducky! How was it?"

"Very well placed, nicely done, both of you. From the readings on the compass, it hadn't moved even a fraction of an inch."

Ziva said something in Hebrew that sounded like a prayer and smiled when all replied, "Amen".

Ducky retrieved his radiation monitor from his bag and handed it to Ziva. She ran the scanner over each of them and Ducky was satisfied, especially with Tim and Tony as it had been nearly 24 hours since their last exposure. The four younger ones were relieved that the scanner did not show any dangerous levels for Gibbs and Ducky either.

The two older men walked off to change into dry clothes, Gibbs stopping for a cup of coffee first and the others stood looking at each other.

Tony finally spoke, "Ok, does anyone remember what we were going to do yesterday before this all started?"

"Look for eggs."

"Lift that mast."

"Continue my training."

"Find some tea."

"Find that olive tree!"

"Find containers to start seeds."

"Draw our designs."

"Go fishing!"

"Write your reports."

The three field agents groaned as they turned, looking at their boss.

"Come on, you know we have to do it while it's fresh in our minds. Mitas, sorry, this takes precedence and Ducky will have to write his own. Afraid you're on your own for a bit."

"Hope no one minds if I just hang out with you down here. I really don't want to go up top by myself just yet."

"Think that's a good idea and we'll continue to use the 'buddy' system when up top from now on."

"Maybe I'll heat some water and wash my clothes." Mitas turned to the buckets and poured fresh water in them, then placed them on the grill to heat.

"Boss, how are we going to write our reports? We don't have the forms or…"

"I wasn't sure just how we were going to do them, but Tim here has a strange look on his face."

"I…uh…have the forms on my laptop."

"Probie, we can't get to the internet from here, how can you have the forms?"

"I keep them stored on a travel drive, Tony, so if the system is down or we're in a small town or a big cavern with no internet, I can still do my reports."

Gibbs clapped him on the back. "Good man, McGee!"

"So that's your report, McBrownNoser, how do we do ours, OW, won't happen again Boss."

"The forms are blank, Tony, just like when you see them at home. So we do them one by one and store them until we get home or can send them."

"You have them all?"

"The ones we normally use." Gibbs frowned, not entirely sure he understood.

"So you can do yours and store it, then hand your laptop to Tony, he pulls up blank forms, then he does his, stores it and turns it over to Ziva?"

"Yeah Boss."

"And then I can read them and I'll have to wing mine, I guess."

"Actually, I have a copy of one you've done, I can clear the data and you can put the information for this case in."

"Don't suppose you have an autopsy report as well?"

"Hi Ducky, no, sorry."

"That's quite all right, dear boy, I'm amazed you have what you do and I really should know all the bits and pieces by now!" Ziva and Tony made funny faces at Tim while he got his laptop, which had a full charge on it and set up on the table. Mitas watched as the other two grabbed paper and pens and started making notes, no doubt to include in their reports. McGee finished his in less than an hour, since he only had the basic forms they needed; saved and stored it, then handed the laptop off to Tony.

Mitas, scrubbing his clothes clean at the other end of the table, noticed Tim did not seem nervous about handing his laptop to Tony. He hadn't expected that, from all the teasing he thought Tony was far less electronically savvy than he now proved as the man furiously typed in his information.

Once his work was saved, he handed the laptop to Ziva and now McGee was visibly nervous, sitting near Mitas trying not to stare while Ziva told the keyboard off in several languages. Mitas could see Tim really wanted to rescue his laptop but stayed where he was.

After finishing his report, Tony gathered his wet and dirty clothes; when Mitas was through washing, he took the buckets to re-fill them, but noticed their fresh water supply was very low. Tony looked at Mitas who nodded in agreement, then told Tim they were heading up to the cistern, taking the empty water jugs and buckets with them.

Tim grimaced, he'd love to go with him but Ziva was still threatening to mangle his laptop, he believed her current language was Hindi, but wasn't sure. When she was finally done, he took the laptop and made sure everything still worked. He might have spoken softly to it and patted it gently but nobody was close enough to hear or see him.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Day Seven: Collywobbles

Taking a deep breath, Tim pulled up the old report with the form Gibbs would need, saved it and cleared out all the variable information. This would be the toughest one to get through. He thought for a minute, yeah that might work; for the sake of his laptop he'd be willing to do that.

When Gibbs arrived, ready to do his report, he found the form, handwritten in Tim's writing notebook. Tim explained that if Boss would write the report out in longhand, he'd input it for him and save it. Gibbs regarded him with hooded eyes for a long minute, and then agreed.

After he read the other reports, the Team Leader got busy with his own and had the paper form ready in less than 15 minutes. Tim swiftly input the information and saved it. Done, he updated the travel drive and turned everything off, sighing with relief. Gibbs laughed at him. "Didn't want me to break your laptop, Tim?"

"Um…well yeah Boss, to be perfectly honest."

"That's ok, that was a good alternative." Ziva appeared and asked Tim if he wanted to go up top with her, she wanted to look for eggs and take a quick look through some boxes in the cove, not necessarily in that order. They grabbed their hats, a WT and their weapons, climbing up into the sunshine. Tony and Mitas were on their last run to the cistern, they'd taken the time to bring more water over from the spring; Mitas reminded Tim his clean clothes were still hanging on the line.

The ATV sat where they'd left it last night and Tim shuddered, it would be awhile before he could look at it without seeing their now very dead prisoner, bound and cuffed. Ziva touched his arm and he saw her impatience to get going. She was right; he didn't want to waste any more time thinking about that dirtbag.

They headed down to 'their' cove and puttered contentedly among the boxes. There was no olive tree, but Tim did find another box of canned goods, among them a can of olives complete with pits or seeds. Laughing, he wondered aloud if he should just plant the pits and see what happened. Ziva did not find any tea, but then remembered the boxes Ducky said they'd left on the beach in the second cove. They gathered the few items they thought useful and headed up and over to the other cove.

Ziva made short work of slitting open box tops and in the fourth one she found boxes of Earl Grey Breakfast tea, Ducky's favorite. She put that aside, going back to the other three boxes to look more carefully. Laughing, she called Tim over and he looked, puzzled.

When she translated the labels on the container, they both laughed themselves silly. Hazelnut coffee creamer, in powdered form. The second box had boxes of oatmeal and the third one had bags of dehydrated and dried fruit. Ziva admitted she'd wished for more fruit.

Gathering their finds, they stacked the boxes and carried them up the trail, decided to take them back to the cavern and then return for the eggs. When they went below, they found Tony scrubbing away and Tim realized he had once again forgotten his clean clothes. After watching Tony dance in happiness when seeing his beloved hazelnut creamer, almost as happy as Gibbs had been with his leather gloves, they left the boxes on the table and scrambled back upstairs with a plastic bag for Tim's clean clothes.

Finally retrieving those, having to peel his jeans off the line, they headed back to the spring to look for eggs. This time they found two hens clucking and were able to retrieve eight eggs, leaving each hen an egg to care for.

Taking those back down, they found Gibbs and Mitas just getting ready to find a nanny goat willing to part with her milk. Mitas carried a large plastic jar with a wide mouth on it, which Gibbs thought would be perfect.

Tim carefully deposited the eggs in the cooler while Ziva placed his bag of clean clothes on his bed, then they rushed after the milkers; leaving Tony washing his clothes and singing "Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen" as he scrubbed. Ducky was still working on his report, sitting at the table muttering and occasionally joining in the chorus with Tony.

Tim and Ziva had spotted GG, Phyllis and Duke on their previous trips up top but the kids hadn't noticed them, they'd disappeared into the rocks behind the spring. Gibbs thought their mother or mothers were up there. They approached quietly and sure enough found the kids napping, two larger goats resting in the sun.

Checking their anatomy, Gibbs indicated both were female. When one nanny rose to all fours, curious, Ziva was able to hold its head while Tim held onto the rest of her. Gibbs made some little noises at her, calling out 'goaty, goaty' and she bleated back at him, standing still. He motioned to Mitas who handed him the jar.

Gibbs then demonstrated the age-old art of milking a goat. He filled part of the jar and then had Mitas trade places with him. By the time the nanny was tired of standing still, the jar was three quarters full. Bleating, she moved her head out of Ziva's hands and bounded off into the bushes.

Returning to the main path of the island, they found the three little ones following them and Tim introduced them to the others. Gibbs and Mitas continued downstairs with the milk, while Tim and Ziva decided to return to the second cove.

Ducky had asked them to find the inflatable raft; he thought it would be helpful for traveling to and from the boat without having to swim, especially since the kayak had gone to glory. Gibbs thought there might be more solar panels. They pulled the cart out where they'd left it after transporting the prisoner last night and hooked it up to the ATV.

Then, taking a deep breath, Tim climbed onto the ATV; Ziva perched on the back, holding onto his shoulders. At the second cove, they easily found the large box with the inflatable raft and lugged it up top. Returning to the debris pile, Tim looked in the area Gibbs had described and spotted another solar panel. Calling Ziva, who had found their broom handle and brought it with them, they cautiously waded out to the panel and lifting it, found others underneath.

They carried several up to the beach to dry a bit, returning to the water to see what else they could find. Tim grabbed another box without labels and opening it, found more hardware, chuckling, he told Ziva Gibbs must have wished for more. She laughed as she opened a box of rain ponchos. Shrugging, they decided to take them, the sun wouldn't shine every day and these would come in handy on the boat.

As they carried those boxes to the beach, they heard a shout from above, looking up they spotted Tony and Ducky, Tony waving something invisible at them.

Tim waved his WT at him, then called him, "What are you waving at us, can't see it."

"Oh, Ducky and I are going down to the southern beach to see about catching some dinner. You two want to come along?"

Tim looked at Ziva; she shrugged, not particularly. He didn't either, he was feeling like he wanted to stay close to home today, maybe work on his solar stuff and his ideas for the design of the Ark.

"No, thanks Tony, you guys go, we have more stuff to bring up."

"Ok, do you need the ATV?

"Nah, go ahead and take it, we can carry this stuff back."

"Thanks; see ya. Oh Mitas says lunch in 2 hours."

"Two hours, got it. Good luck you two. Hey Tony, wait. Call me on the WT when you get down to the beach, we haven't tested them from there yet."

"Ok McWorrier."

"Yeah right and how did you spend your day yesterday?"

"Point taken."

Ziva and Tim spent the next hour carrying everything up the path, over to the entrance and then down into the cavern. The solar panels were a tight fit but they made it. Gibbs was at the table, washing his clothes while Mitas was in the men's room having a bath. Tim smiled; they'd all needed some 'down' time today after the stress of yesterday and this morning. Gibbs looked up. "More solar panels, that's good, right?"

"Yep, the more the merrier."

"Can't decide whether we should raise that mast this afternoon or take the boat over and tow that barge and rowboats back. "

"Can we do both?"

"No, think it's going to take all of us to raise that mast."

"Once we raise it, where are you going to want it?"

"That's a damn good question, Elf Lord, what do you think?"

"It would probably be easier to work on the boat modifications in the bay, but I'm not feeling very secure about that right now."

"Yep, that's my big stumbling block too."

"Gibbs, if we take the boat over, raise the mast and put it on the barge, can we not then tow the barge, mast and rowboat over here?"

"Yeah Ziva, it's just that working on whatever modifications we want to make is going to take some room."

"We don't have to worry about a narrow opening anymore, Boss."

"Yeah, you're right, that bomb did us a roundabout favor." He shook his head, "I'm beginning to think this island is trying to help us. Those goats bleating at you and Tony yesterday, the bomb widening the opening, all these things we keep finding!"

He continued, "I talked with the others about this already, while you two were up top. I do think if we use the barge, that raft and the rowboat in here, we can do the work in the cavern, in privacy."

Tim sighed in relief and then made a suggestion, "Boss what if we just take today to catch up, let everyone rest a bit and start out early tomorrow? We could take the boat out, raise the mast and float it home, I mean here, like Ziva said."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he huffed a laugh; "we needed down time before Rogers! I've been thinking about us taking at least one day off a week anyway. Unless we're cranking to get the boat finished and be on our way."

They started as they heard Mitas calling from the men's room. Weapons at their sides, the three made a mad dash down the passageway, Gibbs calling, "We're coming, Cory! Hang on."

"N…no, it's not an emergency, geez, I'm sorry, I just need help tipping the tub to drain my bath water."

Gibbs smirked as they stopped, "Oh yeah we need down time. We're way too wired!"

Smiling in relief, Ziva turned back to the common area while the two men helped the very embarrassed Mitas tip the tub, draining the water into the sand.

Gibbs and Tim wandered back to the common area, Gibbs realizing he had not yet hung his clean clothes up to dry. Fishing the bag of clothespins out of the 'catch-all' box in the 'kitchen' area, Tim made sure Ziva knew they were going back up top and then helped Gibbs with his garbage bag full of soggy wet clothes. Tim laughed when he saw the clothesline, there was room for Gibbs' clothes but it was a good thing he and Ziva had already dried their clothes as the line was crammed full of men's underwear, socks, pants and shirts. He wondered if they had a sharpie to write their initials so things wouldn't get mixed up.

He snorted at himself and then had to explain to his curious boss. "Sorry, sometimes this place seems like camp. I was just thinking we need a marker so we know whose underwear is whose!"

Gibbs chuckled, "If Tony was here, he'd tell you the island is even now manufacturing and hiding a marker for us."

"I don't know Boss, we found a box of his favorite hazelnut creamer this morning." Gibbs blinked and with a clothespin in his mouth talked around it. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Nope, Ziva cut open four boxes, looking for tea. It was in the fourth box, the kind she and Ducky like. She cut open the other three; one was the creamer, one was containers of oatmeal and the third was dried fruit, which Ziva admitted she'd wanted. Don't forget that extra box of hardware we found, too."

"Yeah, that helps, think we're going to need some Marine hardware for the boat, though. I might be able to adapt some of what we've got, but it'd sure be handy."

"Do you know what you need?"

"Not quite yet, not till we settle on the design."

"Well just say it out loud when you do and we'll see what the island gives us." McGee laughed as Gibbs frowned and lifted his hand up, getting ready to deliver a headslap.

"Just kidding, Boss! After all, I've asked for small containers for the seeds and haven't found those yet."

"Maybe you're not being specific enough. Do you need them small, like the little Dixie cups for the bathroom, or the larger paper cups, like Abby brings for the barbecues?"

"The small ones would be best."

"There you go, check tomorrow, maybe the island elves or whoever will leave you a box!"

Rolling his eyes at Gibbs, Tim started to say something and then turned quickly, his hand on his weapon as he'd spotted something in his peripheral vision. Seeing Tim's movement, Gibbs reacted within a split second. Both sighed in relief as they heard the sound of the ATV chugging toward them.

"Not sure one day's enough this week, Boss."

"Copy that, Tim."

The anglers, waving their catch, stopped in the distance, close to the spring, and taking a bucket, headed up the path, probably to clean and gut the fish, scattering the leavings for the goats and chickens. Gibbs pinned up his last undershirt and then tapped Tim on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

"Below?"

"No, let's go see if we can find your Dixie cups."

"Boss."

"Humor me Tim; I just want a walk in the sunshine, get the collywobbles out of my head."

"The what?"

"Collywobbles. What my mother used to call them. Whether they're monsters under the bed or nightmares you can't shake, whatever it is bothering you; makes you nervous. My current collywobbles are named Chief Rogers."

"I think I remember Penny using that word when I was little, Boss."

"See, there you go."

Tim shook his head at this human, almost whimsical side of his boss; he supposed living together as they were, they were going to see lots of sides of each other. All of them. Not just Gibbs, no, he meant all of them. Everybody. Ziva, Ducky, Gibbs, Mitas, Tony, Gibbs. _Wait, had he counted Gibbs twice? …never mind, don't go there, nothing to see here, move those thoughts along. _

Working together their long hours, they all knew each other pretty well, but that was still mostly professional or no more than 'office casual'. Suddenly he again remembered Gibbs' arms holding him, comforting him the other morning and this morning, his hand grazing his. He gave himself a mental headslap, yeah it was great to see this side of the boss and he was grateful for the comfort and support, but he needed to stop this, especially now and he dared not read more into it than there was. Boss was straight, straighter than straight, married four times, divorced three. _Hmmm._

"Thinking too hard, McGee." Tim smiled, now there was his boss. They walked down the path to the first cove and Tim looked around quickly to see if there were boxes that looked like they had just sprung up out of nowhere. Shaking his head and laughing at himself, he climbed up and over some big thing he hadn't figured out yet and laughed out loud.

"Don't tell me, Tim, a box of Dixie cups just dropped out of the sky?"

"No, it's the shovel Ducky and Ziva saw the first day. I'll need it for the garden."

"Not if you don't get those Dixie cup planting containers."

"Careful Boss or we'll be drowning in the things!" They both snickered. Then Gibbs quieted as he poked through various boxes and containers.

Tim retrieved the shovel, which he found springing up out of an elongated metal container, its lid popped open. Looking into the container, he spotted a hoe and two large bags of garden soil and it looked like some shelves, maybe a shelving unit in the back. He found he could move the container and he managed to float it closer to the beach, only then taking out the tools and leaving the bags of dirt where they were. Once he got the thing to the beach, he looked at it from a different angle and discovered it was a tool shed tall and slim, now lying on its back. Now this he could imagine having been swept off someone's property in a strong high tide.

He looked over at Gibbs who was frowning in concentration.

"Boss, you got something?"

"Think so, come look."

Tim climbed over a few obstacles and reached his boss's side. Following the man's eyes, he looked into a sturdy wooden box and saw an object that might have resembled a clamp of some sort.

"Boss, is that…?"

"It's part of a valve, Tim, I think I can use this to fix the one I tried to make the other day. I never could get it to work."

"Still, Boss, that's…"

"Nah, look at the markings on the box, you can still see some of them, they look Asian, I expect this was another casualty of a tsunami event. Don't go there, Tim, let's just be thankful. I'm going to put this up on the beach, I might make a little cabinet for the dishes from this box, see, just need to put a shelf in there. Let's keep looking for your things."

"Yeah, I found gardening tools and some dirt in a tool shed."

"Dirt? A tool shed?"

"Yeah, two big bags of gardening soil. I thought it was a strangely shaped container, then when I got it up on the beach, I saw that what I thought was the lid is actually a door and there's shelves and hooks inside."

"Ok, that will sure come in handy, maybe even bring that below for the kitchen stuff, plus we can take that back on the boat with us, it'd be handy. That soil, that'll mix well with what's here. Plus the chicken manure and fish guts, we're going to have a great garden, Tim. Find anything else in it?"

"Not yet, haven't looked behind the bags of soil yet."

"Well, I'm done and it's about time for lunch, so let's carry your tool shed and my valve up top and see if the guys are still cleaning the fish, maybe we can borrow the cart for a few minutes."

Without too much huffing and puffing, the two of them carried the tool shed, the wooden box and valve perched on top, up the trail. The ATV was nowhere in sight, so they picked the shed up again and moved it over by the cistern. The best patch of level, relatively rock-free land Tim had seen so far was behind the cistern and that would make watering easier.

At Gibbs' insistence, Tim opened the shed door and removing the hoe, found two small shelves in the back, with something jammed in between them. While Gibbs held the shed, Tim wrestled the thing out and then looked at his hand in wonder. In it, he held a package of 100 small peat pots, the kind used to start seeds and then when the seedlings were ready, you planted the whole thing in the ground. The little pots would eventually disintegrate as compost. He looked at the pots, then up at Gibbs, not sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

"Come on Tim, no magic there. Some poor soul bought those to start his spring garden, along with the soil, but it all got swept away before he could plant them. Can you still see the print on the bags? I bet it's one of the Asian languages. Most of this stuff, Tim - it makes sense it was swept here in the currents. You're a man of logic and this is logical. Don't let Tony's wild imagination get to you!"

Tim smiled then, "You're right. But we're never going to hear the end of this."

"That's all right, gives Tony something to think about. I thought you were the one I'd have to worry about being away from the electronics, but it's Tony who's lost."

"Books, Boss."

"Huh?"

"That's what we haven't found yet that we could all use, books."

"Don't think Tony reads that much."

"But he could Boss, here, to keep from going crazy. We could read out loud to each other at night. Take one book and read a bit every night."

"We'd better look through the metal containers then Tim; any book in a cardboard or wooden box is just pulp by now."

"We have those Russian paperbacks; Boss, you and Ziva could read us those."

"That's right, I forgot about those." Gibbs suddenly laughed. "I have a book with me, Tim, with me in my go bag."

"Great Boss, that's 5 books then."

"I think we'll have you read the one I have."

"Uh, why, Boss?"

"It's by someone named Zubin Cai, sound familiar?" He laughed at Tim's dropped jaw and slight blush. "It's one of yours, Mr. Gemcity, published before you met us. I order your books from a bookseller in Arlington; she found this online and ordered it for me. I found it in my inbox at work the day we got called out, haven't had a chance to read it yet."

"That'll be different Boss; I haven't looked at my pre-NCIS books in a while."

"There's a cowboy on the cover, McGee."

"Yep, there is and yes, I used the penname Zubin Cai for a few books."

"I like cowboys, Tim." Tim heard the change in tone but wasn't sure his Boss wasn't just teasing him, so decided to play it straight, well, not quite straight. "I know you like cowboys, Boss, but I wrote it long before I met you."

"Can't wait to hear the story, think we should read that first."

"Ok, sure." Tim swallowed, feeling rather warm. His WT squawked and he grabbed it to hear Tony's voice. "You two joining us for lunch? It's just about ready."

"Yeah, Tony, we're just at the cistern, be down in a minute." Blinking at his Boss who, damn him looked as cool and put together as ever, Tim pointed to the WT. "Uh, Tony…lunch."

"Ok, let's go." The two men walked toward the entrance, Gibbs' hand casually sliding up to the scruff of Tim's neck.

Gibbs was cursing at himself, half of him disgusted at his behavior. _Get your hand off him_, _and quit teasing him_. _You promised you wouldn't mess with him he's too vulnerable, this is wrong, wrong, wrong! _The other half was happy, dancing in glee at the contact, as little as it was. _He doesn't mind, he's not flinching, he likes me, that's a sign, right?_

Tim's neck and other parts of him felt wonderful and he had to fight the happy smile that was threatening his face. _Stop it, this is inappropriate, he's my boss, he's just being supportive and …paternal, yeah that's it, paternal._

They found Ducky at the entrance; he'd left his pack on the ATV and had come back upstairs to get it.

"Hello, you two, been out 'coving' have you? Come on downstairs, Mitas is just about to serve."

Ducky looked closely at Timothy, but the lad seemed in good spirits, not upset, which pleased the older man. Despite the circumstances, he was glad that Gibbs was getting to know his younger boy a lot better. It was about time, really. He blinked in surprise however, when Jethro winked at him as Tim disappeared down the stairs. Was that what he thought…_oh dear_.

Jethro felt out of control, he thought he should probably just throw himself in the water to shock himself out of his inappropriate behavior. _I winked at Ducky? Had my hand on the back of Tim's neck? What the hell is the matter with me? _His displeasure with his actions caused his customary stone face to slip into place, both dismaying and relieving his team_. _He grabbed a chair, thinking _God knows what would happen if I sat beside anyone on the bench _and tucked into his lunch, reverting to his 'functional mute' persona.

Tim's mood plummeted, he'd enjoyed the version of Gibbs he'd just spent time with, whatever the reason, and now something had ripped that away and the old Gibbs was back. He hoped it wasn't anything he'd done. He picked at his lunch and then noticing Mitas watching, put his thoughts aside and dug in, forcing himself to relax and enjoy.

Ducky noticed the drastic mood changes of both his friends and wondered. Deciding he would pull Jethro aside later, he also relaxed and enjoyed his lunch.

While Tony had his mouth full, his brain was wondering if Tim would go swimming with him this afternoon. Not the bay, he wasn't ready to go back there and he didn't feel like another trek to and from the beach today, so maybe just here in the cavern. Or they could get started on the garden first and then take a swim. He looked at his boss and noticed the stony face, _huh looked like he was still thinking about Rogers_. He mentally shrugged and continued with his happy plans.

Mitas looked at the two older men and Tim and wondered what had happened, then hoped they weren't unhappy with their lunch. No, Gibbs had that stone face when he came into the cavern. He decided not to worry about it, he didn't know any of them well enough to guess and he doubted there was anything he could do about it anyway.

Ziva looked at the men in her life. Mitas and Tony were behaving normally but something was not right with Tim, Gibbs and Ducky. She'd thought Tim was happy spending extra time with Gibbs, she thought it was what he had wanted for some time. Perhaps she had been wrong.

She shrugged; she would speak to Tim later to see if she could help. She hoped Gibbs was not still thinking about Rogers. That led her to thinking about the bay and the probability that they would continue to avoid it for some time. Thinking about the bay made her suddenly realize they had ignored a piece of evidence.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

Days Seven and Eight: Planting Seeds

With an exclamation, Ziva broke the silence, "We have forgotten the lifeboat! It is still buried in the woods around the bay. Should we not be looking for it?" Gibbs' first thought was to thank Ziva for putting them back to work. Tony and Tim were not thrilled but knew she was right and they resigned themselves to finishing their work.

Ducky continued eating; if asked, he would accompany them, however unless there was physical evidence with the lifeboat, there was little he could contribute. Mitas hoped he wouldn't be needed, he personally had no desire to go anywhere near the bay ever again. There had been too many bad things, first the skeleton, then Rogers and now the lifeboat.

He cleared his throat, "Will you need me?"

"No, Mitas, we'll be fine with the four of us. Ducky, you can skip this trip too. If we find physical evidence, we'll call you on the WT."

"Thank you, Jethro, perhaps Mitas and I will take a walk to the north cove, eh Mitas?"

"That sounds good, Ducky."

"All right, everyone, don't forget your hats. Jethro, will you need spoons to dig or find rocks?"

"Neither Duck, McGee climbed over to that shovel you and Ziva saw on your maiden voyage around the island, found a hoe too, so I think we're set."

"Boss, that box I found with the seeds, there's a trowel in it too."

"Bring it, McGee. All right, Ducky, we're leaving you with cleanup; we'll make it up to you. I'd just as soon get this over with."

"It's fine, Jethro, it'll just take me two minutes and I think the boys were done with their penalty anyway, so it's time for the rest of us to share cleanup duties."

"Right." Gibbs turned to his team, noticing them scrambling for their packs, Tim having grabbed the trowel from the increasingly cluttered dish box, Ziva grabbing their camera from the middle of the table where it had been since the mess this morning.

He granted them ten more seconds and then gave them a bracing "Gear up!" He grabbed his own pack and headed out, David and McGee on his heels, DiNozzo bringing up the rear.

Gibbs grabbed the ATV and David hopped on while DiNozzo continued to the cistern with McGee to grab the shovel and hoe. As they turned from the shed, they found their kids behind them, looking curiously at the tools. "Too bad they're not cadaver dogs, Probie, we could use some help finding this thing."

"Yeah, let's see if we can get them down there anyway, Tony, their behavior might change if they smell blood." DiNozzo nodded and they each hoisted a tool and headed for the bay trailhead. The kids followed, happily playing with each other as they walked. Neither man noticed any change in behavior as they reached the trail head, the young goats were already used to the ATV parked there. The agents and their shadows hiked down the path, spotting Gibbs and David just reaching the beach.

When Gibbs saw the goats, he frowned and DiNozzo quickly explained their hope that the youngsters might help them find the lifeboat. Gibbs growled, "They're not cadaver dogs, DiNozzo, they're baby goats, what the hell do you think they're going to accomplish?"

Tim was feeling brave. "Boss, they stopped us from coming down the trail yesterday, they bleated at us until we turned around. I didn't think it would hurt to have them there and I believe they'll stay with us."

Gibbs turned and marched away toward the woods. The others looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and followed their Team Leader. They split into two groups, DiNozzo and McGee working their way in from the edge of the bay, Gibbs and David starting at the other end, the eastern side. Although the trees were sparser on the north end of the bay, Gibbs decided they'd start on the south end first. McGee kept the shovel, David took the hoe, DiNozzo had the trowel and Gibbs had his attitude. Wisely, the goats stayed with their two favorites.

Gibbs and Ziva headed back to the woods at the bottom of the trail and started looking for any clues, any disturbances in the sandy dirt. They tried a few spots but found nothing. Frustrated, which was not helping his anger with himself, Gibbs pointed them further into the woods. Ziva used the handle end of the hoe to probe for any hollow spots. They found a large cook pot and some shells amongst the rocks, but no lifeboat or remnants of a lifeboat under the surface.

At the end of the bay, Tim and Tony started out doing the same thing, looking for any clues or disturbances in the dirt. They identified their own footprints, left there the day they'd found the skeleton and carefully scanned for any additional prints. Tony believed he'd found one and was trying to follow it when the goats, who were wandering around them playing again, suddenly stopped, sniffed the air and began bleating.

DiNozzo picked Phyllis up and moved her several feet away from the spot and she quite happily resumed her play. Picking her up again and moving her back with the others, she became quite unhappy, bleating piteously.

Using some rocks to mark where the goats were, the boys moved the youngsters and then began carefully removing the soil. They wouldn't dare contact Gibbs until they were sure they had something. Tim had dropped to his knees and was using the trowel to scrape away the dirt, wary of damaging anything under the surface with the sharply pointed tip of the shovel.

Tony turned the shovel around and helped Tim scrape away the surface sand and dirt. He discovered that the problem with sand is that it travels right back down to the spot from whence it came, so he began gently scooping the sand away with the shovel.

Believing they'd dug deep enough, they each donned gloves and dug the last half inch with their hands. When Tim felt the surface of the boat, he nodded to Tony who took his WT from his belt pack and called Gibbs.

While they waited for Gibbs and Ziva to join them, they continued clearing the soil away from the boat. It was turned over so there was a solid surface. When the others arrived, Ziva took photos while her teammates continued with their efforts, still using only their hands. When they had the entire outline of the boat uncovered, Gibbs nodded at them to lift it.

As they touched it, Tim and Tony on either end, the three young goats, watching from close by, let out the most pitiful sounding bleats yet and Gibbs' gut told him he'd be calling his ME to join them. As they moved the boat up and away, they discovered the outline of a body, face down in the sandy soil. The boat was placed nearby where it would eventually be examined but for now everything would have to wait for Ducky.

Feeling the weight of their original mission still dragging them down, Gibbs called Ducky on his WT. When the older man arrived in a few minutes, he called down, asking permission for Mitas to wait at the trailhead rather than join them. Gibbs told McGee to take the goats up to him; he didn't want to risk the wrath of their ME by the young animals being anywhere near the body. Making the same noises he'd heard Gibbs make to the mama goat earlier, Tim took the three kids up the trail with him, passing Ducky on the way.

"Timothy?"

"I'll be right back Ducky; Gibbs wanted the kids out of the way."

"Did they help at all?"

"Yes, Ducky, they found the grave for us, but we haven't told Gibbs that yet."

"Very well, I shall see you in a few minutes." Tim continued the hike up to the top, his three friends leaping and playing behind him. He spotted Mitas sitting on the ATV.

"Hey Mitas, I brought our kids up with us, Gibbs wanted them out of the way. Would you please make sure they don't wander back down?"

"Sure Tim. You guys going to be down there awhile?"

"Yeah, afraid so, I'd say a good hour."

"Huh, think I'm going to find a spot of shade under the palms, think that's ok?

"You remember what we taught you? And do you have a WT and your knife with you?"

"Yes to all those."

"You're good to go then, man. Hopefully this will be the end of it."

"Ducky didn't say much, just that he was needed."

"Yep and that's about all I can say right now too. I'm sorry, Cory, I need to get back down there or Gibbs will rip me a new one."

"It's ok, go do your job."

"See you later." Turning, Tim hurried down the path and vanished from sight. Mitas stayed where he was for a few minutes, watching the group in the woods but he couldn't see much and he really didn't want to anyway. He turned and headed back to the shade of the palms, making sure the three little goats were still with him.

Back at the site, Ducky had examined the back of the body, finding two stab wounds. As he pointed, Ziva took the photos. Even though their murderer was already dead, they would have a full file of photos and evidence to hand off when they reached home. Eventually Ducky was finished with his preliminary examination of the back of the body; he had DiNozzo and McGee carefully turn the deceased onto his back.

They finished placing him gently on the tarp Gibbs and Ziva laid on the ground. Knowing Mitas would be able to identify him, they looked at Gibbs, but he shook his head. "Not now, that can wait until we move him out of here." Using the liver probe, Ducky declared the man had been dead for approximately 36 hours, which matched the approximate time they believed Rogers had come ashore. He fervently hoped this was the last of this mess.

Once Ducky was done with the body, they wrapped it carefully in the tarp, the Field Agents carrying it up the trail. They laid the corpse on the cart and Tim stood guard while the others went back for the lifeboat. As expected, it was covered in blood. Tony was able to scrape several pieces of dried blood into evidence jars Ducky had in his gear.

Without lab equipment, their doctor would not be able to prove much of anything. They wouldn't know whether this blood matched whichever crewmember this was, Gellis, Wong or possibly someone else. Ducky and Ziva examined the lifeboat and did not see any other physical evidence. As Ducky packed up, the other three manhandled the boat out of the woods and the four of them climbed the hill, again hoping it was for the last time in regards to this case.

Since the corpse had already been buried once under the boat, Ducky allowed them to lift the body from the cart, put the boat down and place the deceased back down, inside the boat. Tony drove the ATV back to the entrance, Mitas joining them when they passed his shady spot under the palms.

There was very little mystery here. Mitas identified the dead man as Crewman Wong. They followed the same procedure as they had just that morning, the inflatable raft replacing the late lamented kayak; floating the body to the boat for the autopsy. Cause of death was indeed the knife wounds and Ducky found no abnormalities. He estimated the young man had been approximately 23 years of age. Once the autopsy was done, the body was rolled back up in the tarp.

Returning up top, Gibbs and Ducky found a spot they thought secluded enough for burial, where there was a minimum amount of rock to hinder digging a grave. Rotating use of the shovel, the hoe and the trowel, the entire group helped dig the grave of the unfortunate Wong.

Rather than build a coffin, they left him wrapped in the tarp and gently lowered him to his final rest. Gibbs had taken the time to carve a plaque with Wong's name, day and year of his death and tucked it into the tarp with the corpse. Each of them also helped cover him, when the grave was level with the surface, they outlined it with rock and Ducky formed a cross with rocks in the middle.

When they were done with the interment, the group stood silently. In a soft voice, Ziva offered a prayer for the dead from her own faith and the others again replied "Amen" when she was done.

As the others turned away to walk back to the cavern, Gibbs stood, lost in thought. His gut was still not silenced and he was feeling badly about earlier, taking his guilt out on Tim. Finally, he turned and found the young man waiting for him, quietly observing.

"Tim, I'm glad you're here, listen I've been out of line, I shouldn't have…"

"What, comforted me? Made me realize that it was time to let it out, to grieve, or to share my memories? Listen to me talk about how much Joey meant to me for the first time since he died, guess who exactly he was to me? For showing your affection later? No, I don't think so, I don't think 'shouldn't have' applies here at all."

"Tim, I know how it is, I know what it's like to have to hide. I should have told you that but I was afraid you'd think, well…"

"That you're the same as me, that you're not the straightest man in the world? Did you think I'd think less of you for not declaring that from the rooftops? It's the life we live, Gibbs, to do the jobs we love, we have no choice."

"No, I was afraid you'd think I was hitting on you."

That stopped Tim in his tracks and he stood, looking, just looking at his boss, his mentor. When he thought he could talk again, he spoke softly looking at Gibbs eyes.

"And that would be such a terrible thing because…? "

"Because we're stranded on a small island with four other very curious people, because you're not ready- you're too vulnerable and because…I'm your boss."

"I'll grant you the first one, the second one is my decision and the third is only a problem if I feel harassed. And I don't, at all. I feel cared about and cared for, I feel affection and I wouldn't mind reciprocating that affection. And for the record, I brought this up, not you."

"Tim…"

"Let's go for a walk."

The two walked side by side down toward the beach, finding a secluded spot on the eastern side of the island to sit on the rocks and watch the ocean rolling toward their six miles of rock and sand.

They sat quietly for awhile, watching the scene and then Tim spoke again, reaching out and taking Gibbs' hand. "I love these hands, Gibbs. They felt so good on my neck yesterday and holding me the other morning. Please don't ever be afraid to touch me."

Gibbs voice got stuck in his throat and came out in a low growl, "Tim, we can't."

"Not here, not now, I know. But we won't be here forever; we'll be home in a few months. How long?"

"Since Norfolk, that first day."

"I have to say, I did notice you that day as well, Jethro. Yeah, I know I was in a loving, happy and committed relationship, but I would have had to be a dead man to not notice you – and you growled at me when I stood up to you about that Captain."

"Oh God, Tim, you have no idea how much willpower it took that day for me not to kiss that look right off your face."

"Will you show me sometime?" In answer, Gibbs gently grabbed his chin and moving toward him, kissed him heatedly. When they finally came up for air, both were breathing heavily.

"Jethro, that was worth waiting for."

"We'll have to wait some more, Timmy." Tim nodded; yeah they needed to wait until they were home.

"I do have one question, Tim."

"Abby, right?"

"Yeah."

"When I got my job with NCIS, had just been assigned to Norfolk, Joey decided we should see other people. We'd been together – exclusively – since we were young teens, 15 and 16, at Johns Hopkins." Tim's voice got a little choked. "Neither one of us had ever been intimate with anyone else. He was afraid we'd burn out if we didn't check out who else was out there. I didn't want to but then I met you guys and I talked with Abby and I felt some sort of attraction, so I told Joey yes, and I told him why."

"And he was ok with that, with you dating Abby?"

"He said he was, but in less than a month he told me it was a bad idea; he hadn't realized how stupid he'd been. He'd tried dating someone else and it didn't work and here I was dating Abby."

"So you broke it off with Abby?"

Tim gave him a wry smile. "Not sure there was much to break off, Boss; she'd already told me she didn't want anything serious and that I was too insecure." Now Tim laughed, "I never told her she was the first woman I'd been with!"

Gibbs chuckled, putting his hand on the back of Tim's neck as the younger man continued, "But yeah, I broke it off with her, she seemed more relieved than anything. Joey and I got back together; I guess that was a lesson for both of us, not to take each other for granted." Tim shook his head, "And you know the rest."

Gibbs kept his hand on the back of Tim's neck as they spent a few quiet minutes continuing their watch over the sea.

XXX

Upon reaching the cavern after the internment, Ducky quickly noticed Timothy and Jethro had not returned with the rest of them. Hoping to distract the others from noticing, Ducky asked Ziva to go fishing with him. Of all of them, she had the least experience; it was a good opportunity to teach her the basics of the art of the angler. They gathered their lines, hook, bait and a clean bucket and headed out, telling the others they were headed for the north cove.

As they walked toward the cove, Ziva smiled at Ducky, "This is nice, Ducky; at home we do not have much time to spend with each other. And I believe I will enjoy fishing."

"I hope you will Ziva."

"It was clever of you to think of it so quickly so that Tony and Mitas would not notice Gibbs and Tim had not returned."

"Think they had some things to talk about."

"Ducky," Ziva stopped, putting her hand on Ducky's arm, "I ask as a friend and because I know more than I should. Is Tim all right?"

"He is beginning to be. Does he know that you know, Ziva?"

"I do not believe so. And I have not felt that I should bring it up."

"It might help him, dear girl, to have another person to talk with, oh maybe not here but when we get home. He has been so alone in his grief for nearly four years now. Besides Joseph, you know he also lost two of his closest friends during that tragedy. He has had his grandmother, who travels the world, and me to confide in. Two old folks."

"Surely his sister?"

"Aside from the case she was involved in, Sarah has not stayed in touch with him. I'm afraid their parents have poisoned her attitude toward him."

Ziva exclaimed, "I did not realize that, Ducky. I should have been a better friend."

"You can still be, Ziva. Just let him know you are there if he needs to talk. I have a feeling he's said something to Anthony, but I doubt it is the full story."

Ziva nodded, "No, but he knows how Tony hates being left out. He has such a kind heart, Ducky, he is always so good to us and we take him for granted."

"Then stop, Ziva, it's as simple as that."

"You are right and I will."

"Good girl, now come and I'll show you how best to bait a hook and cast a line. Of course it would be better if we had poles."

"Perhaps we will still find one in the treasure coves."

"Very nice name, Officer David."

"Thank you Dr. Mallard." The two smiled at each other and then Ducky got serious, showing Ziva how to place the bait and how to cast into the water.

Within a few minutes they'd caught sufficient fish and stopped to clean their catch. As they left the cove, their WT buzzed rather weakly. It was Mitas. Gibbs and Tim had returned and he was ready to cook what the two anglers had caught. They hurried back to the cavern and handed over their catch. While Mitas worked miracles with the fish, Tim gathered half the WTs and rafted to the boat to use Ducky's charger on them. He left one plugged in, then returned after dinner to find it charged and switched it for the next one. Returning to the fire pit to join the others, he found both Ziva and Tony volunteering to handle the next two pairs. That would ensure all their WTs were charged for another few days.

"Thanks guys, that helps. And Tony, you'll make sure the key is off so we don't run down the boat battery any more than we have to?"

"Yes, Probie."

"I need to get to work on the solar charger, tomorrow for sure!"

"Need to continue Mitas' training."

"Yes Boss."

"And we need to get that mast raised and floated back over here. After breakfast tomorrow, we take the boat around to the barge and hook it on a towline and tow it over to the other cove. Then we'll all have to work at raising that mast out of the water. Also want that black container in Cove 2."

"That sounds like a busy morning, Jethro. I for one am exhausted, so I will bid you all good night." As he'd hoped, Mitas and Tim followed him while Ziva took the raft back to the boat to exchange charged WTs for needing charged WTs. Once her set was done, she woke Tony who was drowsing by the fire and he took the last pair over to the boat.

Gibbs also drowsed, thinking happy thoughts about Tim and their time spent together this afternoon. When Tony was finally finished and the key placed back in Gibbs' hand, he shooed the younger man off to bed, then poured his last cup of coffee. Enjoying the last sips, he believed he had the plan for tomorrow organized in his head. He took care of the fire, turned the lantern down and headed to bed.

Day Eight, Week Two

0500 finally arrived and Gibbs rolled off the mattress, ready to get this day started! He smelled the coffee before he got as far as the fire pit and he saluted Mitas with a raised mug full of the dark rich brew. Mitas smirked, "Not me, but thanks anyway. Tim was up first, he's busy planting seeds over by the raft."

Gibbs craned his head and saw him sitting in the sand, a bucket by his side, carefully transferring dirt from the bucket to peat pots and then painstakingly planting seeds. Then he noticed he was making little cards and impaling them on sticks in the pots as he planted the seed. No doubt the name of whatever he'd planted and the date.

He sighed, he appreciated Tim's initiative but he also needed sleep, they had a big day ahead of them. He thought about how long it would take for some of the fruits and vegetables to ripen and suddenly understood. Any work gardening would be for nothing if the seeds were planted too late to do any good before they left for home, having to leave the fruits of the harvest for the chickens and the goats. Some of the crops could be crucial for them and their animal companions.

He joined Tim as the young man carefully planted his last peat pot. "I'm impressed you got these all done this morning. And I understand why, Tim, but you also need to rest."

"Didn't plan it, woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, thought I could get these done. Just need to add a bit of water, Boss, and then find a sunny spot safe from the goats and chickens."

"Sorry we don't have a window sill here, although it would have to be a pretty big one! Come on, we have a few minutes, let's see if we can put up some chicken wire and keep the critters out."

Gibbs grabbed his wire cutters, his leather gloves and some twisty ties, let Mitas know they'd be back in 15 minutes, took the third tray of peat pots and joined Tim up top. Tim was balancing two trays, looking at the spot he wanted for their garden. Gibbs noticed, with approval, that he had his weapon tucked in the small of his back and figured he also had his ankle holster as well.

Tim looked around, feeling a bit daring. "Can we put just enough chicken wire up and on the top to keep the critters and the birds out of the pots, Jethro?"

Gibbs tried not to purr but he knew he had a big grin on his face. "Yeah Timmy, we can do anything you want."

Tim smirked and blushed a little but recovered nicely, raising an eyebrow. Gibbs gave him that one, giving him a glancing touch as he walked past him to the spot and put his tray down. Tim put his two down and they worked at getting the chicken wire cut and tied around the three trays, with a piece covering the top to keep the birds out. When they had that done, they gave each pot some water and gathering Gibbs' tools and gloves, returned below for breakfast. Mitas was just banging the pot when they reached the bottom of the staircase.

The eggs this morning had an extra ingredient – goat's milk! When Mitas commented that he either had to take the rest of the milk over to the boat or throw it out, Tim remembered his thoughts about butter and decided to ask Gibbs about it.

"Boss, if butter is made in a butter churn, couldn't we make it by putting whatever we need in a container with a tight lid and shaking it?"

"I suppose you could, Tim, never thought of it. You need cream to make butter, so you'd have to separate that from the milk first."

"Do you know how to do that?"

"Yeah, I remember my grandmother doing it. You pour the milk into shallow pans or plates and then leave it to sit somewhere cool, probably the refrigerator on the boat would be best, for a few days, maybe…4. Then you use a ladle or a spoon to skim the cream off the surface of the milk, it will have risen to the top. "

"Ok, so no butter today! Thanks Boss. Hey Mitas, do we have any plates or shallow pans – like a cake pan – I can use for a few days?"

"Huh, sure Tim, we brought in another box of kitchen stuff the other day; I haven't had a chance to look at it. Help yourself…hey, if you find a cast iron skillet, let me know!"

"What about pasteurizing the milk?"

"Ducky told Mitas this batch is ok, since there's little chance of contamination here, but gave him instructions for the next time. We just need a double boiler or two pans that fit together."

"If we can't find anything else, we can always use the coffee pot." Tim bit his lip to keep from laughing when Gibbs gave him his best glare for that one.

Mitas did laugh and then turned away quickly when The Glare was turned in his direction. After they ate, Tim took himself off to find the new box and pawed through it, finally finding what he was looking for. They had fifteen minutes before they took the boat out, and Tim was ready, so he took the raft over to the boat with the milk and carefully poured it into the shallow pan he'd found and tucked it into the refrigerator, marking the date on a piece of paper and taping it to the front of the little fridge.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks to all of you who have been reviewing, each and every one is appreciated! Thanks also to everyone who is following, favoriting and just plain reading the story, hope you're having as much fun reading it as I've been having writing it!

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Chapter Sixteen

Day Eight: Dredge that Mast, Tow that Barge!

Done with phase one of his butter making project, Tim took the raft back and picked up Gibbs and Ducky, bringing the small raft on board with them. Tony, Mitas and Ziva would meet them in the second cove to set up the tow for the barge. Tim had already taken his ginger root and put his sea-bands on, so once the two older men were aboard, they weighed anchor.

Gibbs asked Tim if he wanted to take the boat out of the cavern, and Tim jumped at the chance. He carefully maneuvered the craft and the three on shore cheered when they cleared the cavern. Once outside, Gibbs had him continue slowly north as he wanted to survey the blast damage. While there were spots where it was obvious something had been torn away, overall the damage was not as bad as it could have been. When Gibbs was satisfied that he'd seen enough, Tim throttled up and they headed north and then west at the island's northern tip. They passed the northern cove and their first treasure cove and then came upon the second cove. Gibbs took the helm as with all the submerged objects he did not want to risk heading into the cove until they had eyes in the water. For that, Tony and Ziva were suiting up and would be able to guide them in, getting as close to the barge as possible. Ducky and Tim were preparing to launch the raft and would carry the towline to the barge.

It was a time consuming and tricky operation, but once Tony and Ziva had cleared the underwater obstacles, luckily none too heavy or stuck in the mud, Gibbs brought the boat in a little closer. Ducky and Tim, now in the raft, carried the barge end of the towline. Tony and Ziva joined them at the barge, taking the line and hooking it up.

The other end was already secured on the boat; once the barge began to move, Tony and Ziva climbed in the raft and they rowed over to the black container. Once there, they slipped rope around it and tightening it, gave the signal to Gibbs on the boat. He carefully throttled forward, bringing the barge and the black container out of the cove. In the meantime, Ziva made her way back to the shore and to Mitas, gratefully taking her shoes from him and slipping them on. They would meet the boat and the barge in the first cove.

Ducky and Tim rowed and all three men kept a close eye on the barge and the black container. As soon as the barge was away from all obstacles, the three men pulled the black container closer. Once it reached the side of the barge, Tony slipped back in the water and the three of them pushed and pulled the small container up onto the barge. They secured it loosely as they'd have to move it again when they loaded the mast. Before he started for their next task, Gibbs waited for the three to bring the raft on board and then they slowly made their way back to the first cove. Gibbs was relieved but he knew that although it had been tricky, it had been the less laborious part of the plan for today.

The second part, raising the mast, took all of them. Ducky stayed with the boat, maneuvering to keep boat and barge in position, while the four men and one woman struggled to lift the mast. After a couple of attempts to loop a line around it from the surface of the water, Tim came back to the boat and suited up in the third diving suit. Taking the line, he joined Tony and Ziva below while they examined the mast. Finding the spot Gibbs had described, they were able to loop a towline around and pulled on it to let Gibbs & Mitas know. The two started hauling rope while the divers worked to free the mast from the bottom of the cove.

It took nearly a half an hour of underwater work, but finally the beast came unstuck and Tony and Tim joined the other two in hauling it up while Ziva stayed in the water to guide it. Once the mast was on the surface, Gibbs could tell it was in good shape. He WT'd Ducky and told him to hold position while they took the raft to the barge, guiding the mast with them. Tim and Tony got back in the water with Ziva and provided additional support in guiding the mast to the barge. Tony joined Gibbs and Mitas on the barge and Tim stayed with Ziva; another line was looped around the mast and the barge crew pulled while the water crew pushed. Eventually they were able to leverage the top of the mast onto the barge and the rest was a piece of cake, relatively speaking.

While the others were securing the mast to the barge, Tim and Ziva went back for the rowboat and soon had it hooked up on a towline to the boat as well. Tim laughed to himself at a mental image of the former badass assault craft crossing the ocean home with a string of barges and boats towed behind.

Once everything was secure, the entire group boarded the boat and Ducky slowly took them back around the island to their cavern. Gibbs took the wheel when it was time to maneuver into the little bay; having two extra craft would make things a bit tricky. They made it without any mishaps and he pulled the boat farther into the cavern bay.

The four younger ones disengaged the rowboat towline and Tim and Ziva rowed that to shore while Mitas and Tony took the raft in. The divers still in their gear waded back in to help maneuver the barge into place and then it was done. Gibbs had decided to leave the towline on the barge for now. They dropped anchor and Ziva brought the raft back to the boat to bring the two older men to shore.

As they stood on the shore, admiring their work, Tim and Tony looked at each other and grinning, started cheering; after a second, the others joined in. Finally, they'd been able to carry out the first part of their plan! After the challenges they'd faced the previous week, this was an auspicious beginning not only to their second week post Chimera but to their voyage home.

Tony's rumbling stomach broke the spell and laughing, Mitas said he'd have lunch ready in a few minutes. Although they felt as if they'd completed the twelve labors of Hercules, their project for the day had been completed in a little over four hours.

While they were waiting for lunch, Tim pulled out his notepad and looked at his personal plan for the day. Crossing off the 'plant seeds' and 'Ask about butter' notations, he grinned at the next one. Finally he could get started on his solar chargers. He would work on getting the WTs/phones and his laptop charged then the ATV and finally, the boat.

Thinking about the boat, he thought about their challenges while they made whatever modifications they'd make. One of the things he'd like them to be able to do is catch fish and store it in a cold box; they could also store eggs and goat's milk in a cold box. Laughing to himself, he wondered if he could make a stripped down refrigerator out of materials on hand and use solar power to run it. How ironic would that be, harnessing the sun's power to run a cold box protecting their food against the heat of the sun! Lost in his thoughts, he nearly jumped when Ziva touched him on his arm, "What are you thinking about Tim?"

"Using solar power to run a refrigerator and loving the irony of it."

Once she thought it through, Ziva agreed and they had a little laugh together.

"Are you starting on your solar projects then?"

"Yeah, if Gibbs doesn't have any more tasks for us this afternoon after Tony and I work with Mitas on his training, I'll be starting."

"Will you need help?"

"Yes sure, Ziva. You want to help with this, really?"

"I do, my friend, solar power is something that my country is beginning to use quite extensively and I would love to learn more about it. What better way than to help?"

"That's great!"

"What will be our first steps?"

"I've already gathered all the components I need for the phone and laptop charger, so assembling and testing those will be the first steps and then we can start work on the charger to power the ATV."

Tim quickly outlined the steps they would take for the ATV charger and the extensive testing. That project would help him develop the power system for the boat.

While they were discussing their plans, Tony was working with Mitas to bring lunch to the group. While they prepped and cooked, they talked about plans for the afternoon. Mitas realized they needed more milk.

"Hey Tony, after lunch want to see if we can milk the mama goat ourselves, maybe find some eggs and then go fishing?"

"Yeah, sure Cory and we need to continue your training today too." Mitas shook his head; he did not feel like training today. Gibbs, sitting nearby, caught the gesture and gave him a pass. "Tell you what, DiNozzo, you and McGee pick up training tomorrow, think we've had enough exercise today."

"Ok Boss, I'll let Tim know."

While Mitas put the finishing touches on lunch, Tony walked over to Tim and Ziva. They'd taken a piece of plywood and set it up between two rocks, making a workbench of sorts. Tim had all kinds of electronic bits and pieces and wiring laid out, along with what looked like tiny versions of their solar panels. As Tony approached, he could tell from the sound of Probie's voice that he was explaining something to Ziva.

The older man waited until they saw him. "Hi guys! Tim, I just wanted to let you know Boss has given us a pass for Mitas' training today; we're back on tomorrow though. Ziva, I guess that delays knife training another day."

Tim grinned, "Good Tony, thanks, I'm not sure I'd be able to demonstrate, teach or even defend myself after our morning workout!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Probie, pretty sure we're all feeling the same way."

Ziva preened, "I do not, I am…" she stopped and laughed at the looks on their faces, "All right, I too am tired."

Mitas banged on the pot and the trio walked to the table.

XXX

While Tony and Mitas prepared lunch, Gibbs and Ducky had been sitting quietly at the table discussing their morning, pleased to have the mast, barge, rowboat and future mast support here in the cavern. Finally they'd had a morning without having to work their regular jobs, without having the Chimera case raise its murderous head and they'd made good progress toward their future lives as sailors traveling home.

Now when Mitas banged the pot for lunch, the others joined them at the table, the four who hadn't cooked curious to see what smelled so wonderful. Bowls of minestrone soup for antipasto followed by the main course. Vegetables and chunks of ham, sautéed in just a drop of olive oil, garlic and a bit of onion, served over pasta. The morning's work had given them all a hearty appetite and they dug in, savoring each flavorful bite.

Tim commented on the use of the precious olive oil, "Tony, you'll be happy to know I planted our future olive tree today!" Tony and the others looked at Tim in astonishment and then burst into laughter when he continued, "I asked for an olive tree and the island sent me a can of olives, so I took the hint and planted a pit." Shaking his head at his Tim, yes he could think that now, Gibbs was glad the others were seeing this side of the man.

When they finished, Ducky insisted that he and Gibbs would do the cleanup and the 'youngsters' should spend the afternoon relaxing. The two older men made quick work of the cleanup; Gibbs really wanted to lick the skillet and was only stopped by the look on Ducky's face.

With cleanup complete, Gibbs decided to nose around in the various boxes that had somehow migrated to the 'kitchen' area. He would work on the valve later but right now he had an itch to work with wood and building a little cabinet would really help that itch. Wanting to see how much they needed to store and how much was someone else's idea of 'need', he opened the box Tim had rummaged through earlier.

Feeling a heavy weight on one side, Gibbs reached through a few pie and cake pans, stray lids and plastic storage containers to pull out a cast iron saucepan with lid. He put both pieces on the table and remembering Ducky and Mitas' comments about the milk; put their aluminum saucepan in the cast iron one. It sank into the heavier pot about two inches, perfect for a double boiler. Now they could pasteurize their milk. Near the bottom of the box, he found a teakettle; dark blue with a spout topper of big red lips. _Definitely a chick thing_. He put that on the table for Ziva and Ducky, well Ducky would enjoy having a kettle if not the lips.

Under the tea kettle, he could feel another large heavy object and he again reached through everything else to lift out the cast iron skillet Mitas had been wanting. Now they could have those biscuits Mitas was talking about, although they wouldn't have butter for four days, well, three and a half now.

Shaking his head, he took a visual survey of the dish box, the pots and pans, mugs and cups and decided on the size of the cabinet he would build. He would incorporate the wooden box he'd found with Tim the other day, but would make it larger to fit everything. The cutlery was in a small plastic shoebox and that was fine, it would fit on a shelf in the cabinet. Fishing out the measuring tape from the toolbox, he measured the dimensions, jotting everything down in his notepad. Whistling, he turned, wondering where Ducky had gone.

Ducky was going through his medical bag, noting what supplies were diminishing. He chuckled as he thought of the things he could really use, having to resist the urge to run down to the beach to see if they appeared. He took out a bottle of lavender Penny had given him to help him sleep and held it, worrying about the dear woman. She would be doubly mourning, for both her grandson and her special friend. Ah well, as Jethro said, there was nothing to do about it. Finding one of his favorite paperbacks at the very bottom of his bag, he smiled and sat down on his bed to read, pulling out his book light. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

Tony and Mitas had discussed a few things they could make with goat's milk and decided to try their luck at milking nanny. They would also gather eggs on the way back. Tony knew how to make gnocchi, small potato dumplings and with the amount of potatoes on hand, Mitas thought that was an excellent idea. Another menu item would be fish chowder with potato and onion. Both men decried the lack of cheese, until Tony laughed. "We're going about this the wrong way, Mitas! Instead of making cheese, we should be hoping to find cheese! Dried cheese, my friend, Parmesan, Romano…cans of cheese, yeah not the best but better than no cheese! Even boxes of macaroni and cheese have a packet of cheese mix in them!"

Having diverted themselves to the subject of cheese, they headed for the coves to do a little more digging through boxes. They were followed to the trailhead by the three baby goats, now dubbed the "cadaver kids" after they'd pinpointed the site where Rogers had buried Wong under the lifeboat. The little ones stayed up top while the two humans headed down the trail into the cove. Mitas went through several boxes until he gave a loud 'whoop', having opened a carton of cans of parmesan cheese. However, that was their only useful find in the first cove. They closed the flaps on the carton and left it at the top of the trailhead while they headed over to the next cove, the cadaver kids having disappeared in the meantime. The guys didn't find any cheese product over in the second cove but Tony did open a heavy carton filled with bottles of olive oil. Crowing at their finds, the two took the cartons straight downstairs. In the kitchen area, Mitas' eyes lit on the cast iron skillet and he almost knocked Tony over getting to it. Tony had stopped to watch Gibbs measuring a large wooden box.

"Boss, what are you making?"

"Cabinet for the kitchen, that dish box is full already and take a look at the pans I found in that other box. Besides, we can take the cabinet with us on the boat."

"You found my cast iron skillet, Gibbs? Thank you!"

Gibbs laughed, "I don't know who brought that box down, Mitas, wasn't me, but I'm glad you're happy."

Tony thought about asking Gibbs about the hose valve but the contented look in his boss's eyes stopped him. The man was woodworking, best to let him get it out of his system.

"Where's Ducky, Boss?" Gibbs tilted his head toward the sleeping area and Tony saw their indomitable M.E. sitting up, leaning against the cavern wall, book in hand, sound asleep, his little book light still on. Tony walked quietly over and turned it off, not wanting Tim to have to add a solar powered book light to his list.

Mitas was imagining the wonderful things he could make with his new treasure when he realized they still needed milk and eggs. "Hey Tony, we still need the milk and eggs! How about we go do that and then go fishing?"

"Yeah, sure Cory." The two grabbed the jar for the milk, their hats, fishing gear, WT and, making sure they had their weapons, headed back up the staircase.

Beyond the kitchen area, Tim and Ziva had just finished building the solar charger for the phones and his laptop. After carefully charging Ziva's phone on the boat the previous evening, she had left it on when they left for the coves, knowing she wanted to help Tim. The battery was now partially depleted as she'd planned. They grabbed the phone and the new charger and took them up top. Looking around, Tim realized the spot with the most consistent sunshine was the garden area. Thinking that through, he realized that would be the best area to test, inside the little enclosure he and Jeth…Gibbs had made this morning. Granted, plastic might not taste very good to goats, but Tim wasn't willing to chance ruining either Ziva's phone or the charger or worse, hurt the goats. He carefully pulled the top off the enclosure and then removing the twisty ties, pulled the fencing out several inches so the phone and charger could sit on the ground and not on top of the peat pots. Refastening everything, they agreed they would check back in 3 hours. In the meantime, they indulged themselves in their new favorite hobby, treasure hunting in the coves, or 'coving' as Ducky had nicknamed it.

Donning their hats, they hiked down the trail to the second cove, joking about naming the island and various parts of it. They decided the island was 'The Rock', figuring Tony would have a movie reference. The cavern was 'Gibbs' house', playing on the team's tendency to think of their Team Leader's home as their own home away from home. The cove to the north was "North cove", an obvious choice. Coves 1, 2 and the bay needed consensus from the others; they'd bring it up at dinner this evening.

Reaching the cove, they immediately saw that removing the barge and the container had caused a shift in the remaining flotsam. There was a rusty looking container bumping up to the shore. They left that as it would need Gibbs' pry bar to open it. They did find an elegant metal door, looking as if it had come from a dwelling and they hauled it to shore, Ziva claiming it for her own.

When Tim asked her where she was going to use it, she smiled. "On our new boat, Tim. My design has a separate bunkroom for me, with a door. I am fond of you all however I do need some privacy."

Tim just nodded then chuckled to himself; with Ziva's snores frequently echoing through the cavern, he didn't think anyone would object to her having her own space and door. Not that they would have objected even without the snoring!

They found a few more pallets and dragged them up beyond the tidal marking to dry before taking them downstairs for the fire pit. Splitting up, Ziva wandered off and Tim took his time poking around in the never-before-seen treasure. He found a metal box that looked like a footlocker; hauling it to shore, he opened it to find books, in both paperback and hardback, printed in English.

He sorted through the paperbacks, pulling out the mysteries and crime novels, those might be fun; they could work on the crimes. The romance novels he set aside, wondering if any of their group would be interested. One or two he flipped through had some interesting things in them so he put them in the stack to take with him today. He was happy to find a trilogy of a family saga; he and Ducky shared a love of those, so they went in the pack. Some science fiction and fantasy, well he'd enjoy them.

Finding two mysteries with a woodworking theme that he thought Gibbs would like, he tucked those away. Tim was schooling himself to think of his boss and future lover as Gibbs, which was safer than accidentally blurting out "Jethro" at some inopportune moment. Two medical looking stories for Ducky, an international spy story, he hesitated, not sure anyone would have the stomach for that right now. He'd include it, if no one read it, no problem. Making up his mind, he took the books he wanted to read and stuffed them into his pack. The others he put back in the footlocker and pulled it up away from the water, in case they didn't haul it up the path today.

Ziva suddenly appeared, holding two lanterns, similar to the one they were already using and dragging a rather large box. Taking it from her, they looked at the very faint trace of an image, all that was left of the original markings.

"I believe those are legs, Maghee, perhaps to a table or a chair?"

"I agree that looks like legs, Ziva, but there are three and it looks like a big bowl on top."

"Oh, perhaps it is the barbecue Mitas wanted."

"Let's take it up as it is, easier to carry in the box and then we can open it and see what it is."

"Very well."

Deciding to make two trips, the two first carried the box up the path, also carrying a lantern each, dangling from their hands. Tim also carried his pack full of books that first trip up. The second trip was harder as the footlocker full of books was heavier, but they succeeded.

As they rested at the top of the trailhead, Tim looked up and noticed the clouds today looked a little more menacing than usual. There were more of them and they were moving in fast. Pulling out his WT, he called Tony and found they were just returning from milking the nanny. Tim then noticed that their shadows were nowhere to be seen, no GG, Phyllis or Duke today. When Tony and Mitas caught up with them in the ATV and cart, they said they hadn't seen them either. Tim told Tony his suspicion that they were about to experience their first island storm and pointed to the still gathering clouds. Tony called Gibbs, requesting a tarp for the ATV. They piled their cove treasures on the cart and stopping at the little garden, Tim grabbed all three trays of seeds in one large stack as the seeds would drown in a deluge and Ziva grabbed the phone and charger. Mitas grabbed the little enclosure as they couldn't afford to lose any of the chicken wire, and off they went stopping only to pull Ducky's clean but not quite dry clothes off the clothesline. The rain started before they were at the entrance, pelting down on them. Tim grabbed one of Ducky's shirts and put it over the top plant tray, vowing to re-wash the shirt.

* * *

Author's Notes: Alix33 called GG, Phyllis and Duke the "cadaver kids" in a recent review and I liked it so much I had to share it, with her permission. Thanks!

Also, Ziva is not keeping kosher in this story.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Day Eight: Stormy Weather

As they reached the entrance, they saw Gibbs in one of the rain ponchos, waiting with a tarp. Ducky was at the foot of the staircase and Mitas and Ziva joined him to form a human chain passing things down: eggs, milk, wood, fish, the plant trays, Ducky's clothes. The phone and charger were in Ziva's pack along with the two lanterns and she noticed Mitas had brought another can of the fuel up from the bay. She had also grabbed Tim's pack, knowing he had books in there, so nothing in either pack got wet. The mystery/barbecue box was left on the cart; the final item passed down was the footlocker full of books. Tony and Tim then carefully covered the ATV with the tarp, using the bungee cords to fasten it on and then headed downstairs, pulling their camouflage bush over the entrance, hoping to stop some of the rain.

Reaching the base of the staircase, they found Ducky waiting for them with wonderfully dry towels. Tim was still thinking about the rain water and, suddenly exclaiming, ran to the common area and grabbed two of the metal buckets and the rain poncho Gibbs had just taken off; then flew back up the stairs. Grabbing another poncho, Gibbs followed him up, wondering what his genius was up to now. Tim carefully set the buckets out in the open on the rocky dirt, gathering rainwater. He then turned and, surprised to see Gibbs watching him, motioned for him to follow. He ran to the cistern, Gibbs starting to understand, and removed the cover, allowing the fresh clean rainwater to fill the reservoir. Checking around them when they finished with the cover, Tim risked a chaste kiss to Jethro's cheek. With a big smile, Jethro returned the favor and then when the force of the rain seemed to increase, they ran back to their shelter, pulling the bush back over the entrance.

Safe on the staircase, although both were quite wet, Tim finally spoke.

"The way the rain's coming down, the cistern will be full in about 20 minutes. I'll go back up and put the cover on."

"We'll both go, Tim, we're already wet, staying wet for twenty minutes won't hurt us too badly."

Rather than dragging mud all over the cavern, the two opted to sit and wait on the staircase. Ducky came wandering in and clucked at them for staying in their wet ponchos. He disappeared and returned with two dry ones, insisting they exchange them. They did and admitted feeling more comfortable. Their camo bush was doing a good job of keeping much of the rain from seeping down the staircase, but they were both very glad when they returned from re-covering the cistern. It had been full to the brim and they'd anchored the cover with several rocks as the wind was now starting to pick up. They paused on the staircase, letting some of the water drip off them, before grabbing two of the towels left there for them. Stripping off their ponchos, shirts and shoes, they left their pants and socks on, wrapping up in the warmth of the towels. They stood there for a moment, unwilling to give up the intimacy for just a little while longer.

Gibbs shook his head. "We'll have high tides with this one, glad we've made a point to make sure everything is secure aboard the boat."

"What about the mast and the barge?"

"Think they'll be all right, most of the barge is resting on the shore, I hope this storm won't be all that bad!"

"If the boat gets pulled out, the barge will go too, the towline is still hooked up."

"No, it's not. Ducky and I went out in the raft while you four were gone, maneuvered the boat a bit and unhooked the towline."

Tim gave him a look that Gibbs interpreted to mean the younger man was not pleased they had been on the boat when there was no one else around.

"Tim I do stuff by myself all the time at home, and so does Ducky. We're both capable."

"Not saying that, Gibbs, just that…if anything happened to either of you, it would be devastating for all of us. Personally, losing you would be more than I could stand."

"You can't think that way, Timmy, neither of us can; we have dangerous jobs at home and here…"

"Then don't take unnecessary risks, Jethro, please."

"All right. Maybe we should have waited until you returned. Have to say I never thought about it."

"It's not just you and Ducky, well it is for me personally, but what I'm trying to say is that no two of us should be in the water without two others around."

"Think the others will feel the same way?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Ok, come on, we need to get dried off and into dry clothes."

"I'm hoping we have plenty of wood down here because I'm suddenly freezing." Gibbs gave him a look that made the tips of Tim's ears flame red, but they continued their rush to the fire.

Entering the common area, they found a fresh pot of coffee on the grill and dry clothes warming on their chairs. "Thanks guys, this was really thoughtful."

"Yeah, don't suppose anyone built a fire in the men's room?" The others laughed and passed additional towels also heated by the fire to the two half-drowned men."How is it out there, Boss?"

"Not now, Anthony, let them change first, they've been in those wet things long enough. Go, both of you!"

Neither man stopped to argue; quickly heading for the men's room, grabbing whatever else they needed including shoes and blankets, from their beds as they passed by.

Pulling wet clothes off as fast as he could, Tim snuck a peek at Gibbs, only to find him doing the same. They both laughed and continued dressing, more comfortable with each other. Pulling on warm dry socks felt like heaven to Tim and he remarked on that to Gibbs.

"Yeah, I agree, I remember in the Corps, we'd get back from a long day or days and just pulling off my boots would feel like sheer heaven."

Once dressed, they threw their wet things in a large plastic bag Ducky had given them and returned to the fire. Ducky took their wet things and spread them out on the rocks to the side of the kitchen area.

Tim found a packet of hot chocolate in the food box and made a 'mocha coffee'. Catching Tony's eye, he held up the packet and the coffee pot and the older man's eyes lit up. Grabbing another mug, Tim quickly made a second 'mocha coffee'; asking if anyone else wanted one. There were no other takers, so after passing Tony his mug, the sugar already on the table, Tim settled onto the bench next to Gibbs although keeping a discreet distance. He looked at his watch and laughed, for all their work and play today, it was only 15:30, hours till bedtime. Looking around, he noticed Ducky and Mitas working on some sort of drawing, Tony was writing, Gibbs had his notepad out and Ziva was reading a Jules Verne novel.

"Oh good, Ziva, glad you opened the footlocker with the books!"

"Yes, I had not read this one before. It is quite different from his "20,000 Leagues under the Sea"."

Looking around, Tim noticed their two new lanterns had joined the other on the table; it really brightened the whole cavern. Rising, he grabbed his writing pad from his bag and settled back on the bench, first working on his 'Chronicle', that is, the story of their journey, and then he played with his boat design for a bit. He wondered when Gibbs would call a meeting for that. No time like the present.

"Hey Boss? When are we going to go over all the designs for the Ark?"

"What day did I say, Monday? What day is today?"

"Tuesday." Everyone laughed at that, they had been just a bit busy.

"Ok then, today it is! Everybody have your designs handy? Pass them over." Mitas passed his over, with Ducky's name on it as well, Tony had three pages that he passed across the table to Gibbs; Ziva had one page with a lot of detail. Tim handed his two-pager over to Gibbs and then tried to look over his shoulder as their chief boat builder took some time to look at each design.

"Great ideas here guys, I'm impressed! Looks like most of us think it best to build onto the boat and from what I can see, you each have your own version of an Ark. Each of you has included a mast and sail as well as what I'm guessing are solar panels. So we'll use a combination of sail, solar and fuel. DiNozzo, now that's an interesting idea," Gibbs looked up, "he proposes we build a new boat and cannibalize this one for the interior and materials, but not to include it in the design. Ok, who has paper out…McGee, you're the note taker. Write that down as a possibility, I need to think that through."

"Mitas and Ducky did a great job with the galley, the head and the new forward section of the Ark, detailing the animal pens and their food storage next door, hadn't thought about having to store food for them and also have some sort of animal waste tray under the floors, good job. Ziva, let's see. Yeah, that's a good idea, thought of that too. She has storage in the forward section, then the bunks, split up into six individual rooms, very small, sort of like Pullman beds on trains."

Seeing some puzzled looks, he passed around Ziva's design. Tony was the first one to spot Ziva's innovation.

"Hey, one of these bunkrooms has a door!"

"Yes, that is mine and I have the door already, Maghee and I found it in the cove today. It is metal so cannot be torn apart for building material."

"Why…oh, never mind. Boss, can we all have doors?"

"Depends on the wood situation, Tony. May have to settle for a curtain."

"Ok, that's still some privacy." Gibbs picked up Tim's design next and blinked. "Now that's a lot of detail, Tim. You must know something about ship building."

"No, but I know science and support structures. Know the more interior structure we have, the stronger the hulls will be."

"Yeah. I hope we're going to have enough material for an inner hull, it makes more sense and will be considerably sturdier."

"Was thinking maybe we could break down some of the containers and the car doors out in the coves and use them somehow."

"Oh man, we're going to sail up the Anacostia with a prow made out of car doors or shipping containers?"

Tim snorted, "Don't worry, Tony, everyone will be too busy looking at the goats towing us in." Another general round of laughter as each remembered Tim's quip several nights ago.

Gibbs looked around the table. "Ok, here's what we've got. I haven't decided yet whether it'll be a totally new boat or combination of this boat and building on. Yeah, building a totally new one would be easier, just like renovating vs. building a new house. But there are factors to consider, so I'm tabling that part of the decision for now. That's the only point we need to wait on though. We'll use solar, sail and fuel, if we have any fuel left by the time we're ready to go. I like the idea of separate 'rooms' for the bunks if we have enough wood and I will agree to Ziva having a door since she's already found one. The rest of us may end up, as I said, with curtains, but we'll have some privacy. The galley design Cory and Duck put together looks great, they've included a full size 'cool box' along with the refrigerator. If we can find the materials to build that and it will run off solar power, we'll have it. An oven, I don't know, maybe Tim can add solar oven to his ever growing list of projects."

He paused and Tim interjected, "I already have a solar oven on the list, Boss. Might have it completed while we're still working on the ship, then we can just take it with us."

"Ok, good! Now, what about heat? We're in November now, it's going to be at least January and probably later before we're ready to sail. We'll need some form of heat for the bunk room and the animals."

"Could we have fires, like we do here," Tony nodded to the fire pit, "only in a metal container? The metal would heat and the fire itself would heat. Or is Tim going to build us a solar heater as well?"

"Are you thinking of the metal tubs, Tony? We could take them with us for use as fire pits, although we'd need a way to let the smoke out."

"A chimney?"

"Sort of, be pretty tricky to do. Let me think about that. I do like the idea of taking those tubs with us, as well as the metal buckets, we can have hot baths once in a while."

"Fresh water."

"Yep, that's going to be tricky. I don't think we're going to be able to tow the hot tub even to collect water, sorry Tony."

Gibbs glanced at Tim only to see a blank look. Knowing that meant he was processing an idea, Gibbs waited. "No, Boss, it wouldn't work. If we were just going on solar, we could tow the barge and the hot tub. But add in sail and it just doesn't work. "

"Ok, we'll have the head, the galley and the bunks, whether we use the boat or not. The fold-out table on the deck as well as the bench. Mitas and Ducky's design includes a fold-out table in the galley and I think that's an excellent idea. In rough weather, that'll be our common area. Another idea from Tim is to build an enclosed space for the pilot, with a couple of windows; oh yeah I have seen some windows down in the cove. So in rough weather, the pilot would be protected along with the equipment. Although won't we have to cross the deck or is there an access hatch," Gibbs pulled Tim's design closer, "ah, I see, along with access from the deck, there's also a hatch between the storage compartment and the pilot tower. Ok, we'll have three and a half decks. The top deck is open to the elements and the Pilot tower is technically the half deck above that. The middle deck is our living quarters and storage. Lower deck provides the inner hull and more stability. Ok, I think we've got what we need to get started. The one outstanding problem we have is fresh water and that's a show stopper. Whoever comes up with the solution to that will have all of our undying gratitude."

"Anything else?"

"I have something. Tim and I built our first solar charger today; we used it on my phone. It was in the sun for nearly three hours before the clouds gathered. And look, it is fully charged!" That brought loud cheers, as they all realized the phone charger was a precursor to the solar panels for their ship.

"What's next, Tim?"

"My laptop, then the ATV, the assault craft and then we'll graduate to the big fish."

"Big fish?"

"The ship, Ziva."

"Oh, is that to be the name of it, 'the big fish'?

Gibbs blinked, "Haven't gotten that far, Zeever, we'll see. Anything else? Everyone see the books Tim and Ziva brought back today? We thought we could take a book and start reading it aloud each night. We could alternate readers."

"That sounds good, Jethro. I'll volunteer to go first."

"Oh no, Duck, McGee's not getting out of this. I have a very special book that's going to be read first and he's going to read it."

"What's that, Timothy?"

"One of his own."

"A Deep Six book?" Ziva and Tony spoke in unison in deprecating tones, both of them looking and sounding angry and disgusted. Gibbs own anger flared and he glared at them.

"May I remind you that his books routinely make the Best Seller list for weeks at a time?"

Mitas had been quiet, now he piped up, "Deep Six, you mean the Gemcity books, man, I love those. I have every one of them at home."

"Well now you can have them personally autographed." Tony snarked in as sarcastic a tone as Gibbs had ever heard the man use.

Gibbs had risen from the table and seeing the expression on Tim's face, got angrier by the second. Before Tony realized what was happening, he was given one of the hardest headslaps he'd ever had. "OW!"

"You will never speak of Tim's books in that tone of voice again; do you understand me, DiNozzo? I've let you get away with it for far too long and this is the end! That goes for you too, David, I've had enough. He has earned your respect, he earns it every day and you constantly throw it back in his face. You are done with that, he is done taking it from either of you. You should be ashamed of yourselves. He's been your friend and you just keep dishing out the shit. ENOUGH! .Understand?"

"Yes Boss." "Yes Gibbs."

"Apologize to him."

"No Boss."

"Tim?"

"Won't mean anything to me or to them, just following orders."

Ducky cleared his throat and spoke quietly into the tense silence. "I remind you all we've had a long arduous day and an even more trying week. I suggest we get some rest and perhaps tomorrow will seem brighter."

Mitas, still in shock at all that had just been said and done, ventured a suggestion, "It's time for dinner anyway. There's the fish we caught today and I could scramble up some potatoes with that. I'll just need a few minutes."

"Good idea, lad, may I be of any assistance?"

"No thanks, Ducky, though if you want to stay and keep me company, that'd be fine." Ducky nodded, watching thoughtfully as Tim grabbed his writing pad and walked over to him. "May I borrow your reading light?"

"Of course, my dear boy, here, let's get it." As they walked, Ducky asked Tim where he was going. "There's a room next to the staircase that has a huge rock pillar in it. It's very comfortable to sit, lean against that and write or read. I just want some space for awhile, Ducky, I'm ok, this isn't new you know."

"I know, Timothy, but I rather thought Anthony had gotten past his bullying and certainly that Ziva had. I'm most disappointed in both of them."

"Please don't make it any bigger than it is, Ducky, Gibbs is already in danger of doing that. He's exhausted; we're all tired and stressed out. Playing treasure hunt on an island is one thing, but finding a traitor, dead bodies, bombs going off and we're away from home, stuck with each other. Look, I'll take a WT, will that make you happy?"

"Yes, add a blanket to that, you were quite chilled when you came in from the storm."

"Yes, Doctor."

"If they want to see you?"

"Not DiNozzo or David, not tonight, I'm too tired and…yeah I guess I am upset, I don't want to talk with anyone about it. Except Gibbs and you."

"Very well, lad. I'll respect your privacy."

"Thanks Ducky, you're a good friend."

"As are you, lad." Tim tried to smile but found it hurt a bit still. He just nodded and patted Ducky on the back; took the blanket and light and walked down the passage.

Gibbs was still fuming, he was so angry he wanted to break something. He contented himself by throwing rocks at the barge, each hit making a nice satisfying thumping sound. He was still doing that when Ducky walked over with a cup of coffee. "Thanks Duck. How's Tim?"

"Hurt and trying not to be. Worried about you. He's taken his writing notebook, a blanket and my book light down to the room with the pillar. Said he doesn't want to speak with DiNozzo or David tonight. I must say, Jethro, as tired as we all are, I'm most disappointed with Ziva. Just the other day at the cove, she was saying she'd taken Tim for granted and she was going to be a better friend to him. How quickly she's forgotten, she jumped right back to bullying him with Anthony at the first opportunity. And for Anthony to continue his bullying like that - you're right, it is unacceptable. I found it unacceptable four years ago when you sanctioned DiNozzo's bullying to "toughen up" Timothy," Ducky used his fingers for air quotes, "it's far beyond that now. Bullying should never have any place in the workplace or at home. For DiNozzo to still carry it on and to think it's still permissible, it's…reprehensible, may be unforgivable. "

"Don't know what else to do, Duck, we're stuck here and they're continuing their behavior. I thought Tony would grow up and grow out of it. I thought he had. And Ziva, I don't know what to tell you. If we were at home, I would have suspended both of them for two weeks, maybe more, without pay. Here, what can I do? Anything I do, they will take it out on Tim."

The two men continued talking quietly, not realizing they had an audience of two. Two very upset and now horrified teammates, thoroughly ashamed of themselves. DiNozzo had just had his eyes opened to his superior's opinion of his behavior – and not just tonight's behavior - and he didn't like what he'd heard from either of them. _Had he really been that bad and was he still? How had Probie ever accepted him as a friend?_ He felt sick to his stomach.

Ziva turned and ran to her bathroom, tears running down her face as she realized that she had just reverted back to a part of herself she had resolved to change. She had once again disrespected and helped to bully a man she wanted as her friend.

Mitas made a very small dinner, figuring only Ducky and maybe Gibbs would join him. He was nearly right. Gibbs didn't join them, however before Cory and the doctor sat down, Tony sidled in, dished up a plate and disappeared again. Ducky shook his head, "That man would eat blindfolded in front of a firing squad."

Catching what he'd said, he grimaced and started to apologize.

"Don't worry about it, Ducky. I feel bad for Tim, though, must be tough to be the youngest in the family."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Family, Ducky. You guys are family, Tim, Ziva and Tony are siblings. Tony's the oldest, right? Ziva's somewhere in the middle and Tim's the youngest. It's just the three of them?"

"Uh no, Abigail, Abby Sciuto, our forensic tech, she would be the fourth sibling."

"Where does she fall into it?"

"Chronologically, she's nearly Tony's age, but she behaves quite a bit younger."

"And how does Gibbs do with that?"

"She's his favorite, of all of them, reminds him of…someone he lost at a very young age."

"And how does she act toward Tim?"

"Sometimes he's her pet and sometimes she's a worse bully toward him than Anthony is."

"Because she's the favorite and she can get away with it?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Lovely family vibe you got there, Ducky. Isn't there someone named Jimmy too? "

"Yes, Jimmy Palmer, he's my assistant. He's friendly with Tim but aside from a short-lived friendship with Anthony a couple of years ago, I don't believe he interacts much with DiNozzo or David."

"So he's yours then."

"Yes, that's true, in our odd little family, he belongs to me."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters, Ducky?"

"Had, Cory, I had a much older brother, he was away at school when I was born, never knew him well and he's passed now."

"Sorry to hear that, so you grew up an only child?"

"Yes and I think I see where you're headed with this. Gibbs was an only child, Tony was an only child, Abby has a younger brother, Tim has a younger sister and Ziva, well she had an older half brother, now deceased, and a younger sister who was killed I believe when she was a teenager."

"Did Ziva's half brother live with her family?"

"I do not know for sure, but I don't believe he did."

"And is Tim close with his sister?"

"No, they weren't raised together. Tim moved home when Sarah was school age."

"And Abby?"

"As far as I know she and her brother are very close."

"Ok, so one out of the six of you and I'm not going to count Jimmy because he doesn't seem to be part of the equation. Doctor, it seems to me that what happened tonight was a sibling squabble. Normal, well not the bullying part, but the picking on the youngest. Siblings fight all the time. I still fight with my brothers and we're all grown! Tell me, does Ziva ever side with Tim?"

"Yes, frequently since Tony is technically their superior – he is Gibbs' second – and tends to lord it over them when Gibbs isn't around."

"So he abuses his authority?"

"No no, nothing like that. He just likes to be lord of the manor, so to speak."

"And probably very protective of them if they're in trouble?"

"Hard to say, he speaks as if he is but since he's usually caused the trouble, that's a difficult one."

"Typical passive aggressive behavior, doesn't play well with others, fairly self-centered, narcissistic?"

"Yes, an apt description, but he also has a great deal of empathy. He's a good man; he just has never learned to show the world that."

"Does Gibbs have any children of his own?"

"Not living, no."

"Oh, geez, that's sad. So these guys are his surrogate children, he's the head of the family."

"Yes, that is an accurate description, although I would not say he is a father figure to Timothy, more of a mentor."

"And your role?"

"A mixture of uncle, grandfather and oddly enough, mother."

"Yes, you are the peacemaker and I imagine they turn to you in time of need."

"Yes, well Jethro is normally rather stern and difficult to speak with about personal matters. He'd rather I deal with them anyway, as long as he's kept informed of any real problems."

"Huh, sounds just like my dad."

"You really do think this is more of a family squabble?"

"Sounds like it, although not the bullying, that needed to be stopped."

"Tell me, Cory, you have a good grasp of this, is this all from your own experiences or have you studied family psychology?"

"Both, Ducky. I'm studying to be a family psychologist but took a year off to make some money, so I can study more!"

"Wonderful dear boy! What would you suggest we do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? But Timothy…"

"He went to write, didn't he?"

"Yes, he was a little upset but more worried about Gibbs and all of us being exhausted and stressed."

"Definitely an oldest child, very protective of everyone."

"Yes and craves his privacy. Unfortunately Anthony is not good at boundaries, so Timothy has formed a private life within a private life."

"Tony thinks he lives his life one way and Tim lets him think it so Tony will leave him alone?"

"Yes."

"Amazing, I could do my thesis on this…don't worry, Ducky, I'm just kidding. Is Tim really Thom E Gemcity?"

"Yes he is and he's a wonderful writer."

"Yeah he is, I'm picky about what I read and I love his books. Oh, I guess that means that Tommy is…"

"Please don't go there, Mitas, the whole thing will re-ignite."

"All right, I won't! Think it would be ok if I went and talked with Tim? Not about his books, but about this whole family thing and maybe just to give him someone else to talk to?"

"He only said he didn't want to see or talk to DiNozzo or David, I think that would be acceptable." Ducky quietly told Mitas where to find Tim and watched as the young man grabbed a lantern and a blanket and walked off. Ducky felt marginally better, he still was not comfortable with the situation but felt some reassurance that things could and would be resolved. Sighing to himself, he filled the teakettle, chuckling again at those daring red lips, and then put a pot of coffee on for Jethro, knowing the man would be drawn to it like a moth to flame. As it turned out, Jethro was very close by, having stumbled into Ducky's conversation with Mitas. He had been happy to hear this was a sibling rivalry thing. Maybe his kids would settle it amongst themselves. However, he had been horrified to hear Ducky's take on Abby, that she bullied Tim because she was the favorite. Thinking back, he could identify a few times where he might have misconstrued the situation, starting with that stalker. Well, she wasn't here, wasn't part of their current problem, so he was not going to worry about her. He wanted to go to Tim; he ached to hold him in his arms and see those eyes light up again, to see that shy smile and big grin. He would wait a few minutes, let Mitas have his say and then he'd wander in, hopefully Mitas would take the hint and leave them alone. In the meantime, he could see that his coffee was perking and those damn lips on Ducky's teakettle were whistling. He walked into the light of the two remaining lanterns, nodding at Ducky. Ducky gave him a small smile and pointed to a plate, covered in foil on the edge of the grill. Gibbs smirked, yeah, he thought he could eat now and using his shirt as a hot pad, took the plate to the table. He paused, "Ducky, has Tim eaten anything?"

"No, Jethro. He didn't want anything when he left here."

"He might now; I'll save him some of my plate."

"That's thoughtful of you dear boy. Have you seen your two naughty children?"

"No, maybe they ran away from home."

"Not likely in this storm." Both men were silent, listening to the waves crashing and the wind howling through the opening of the cavern.

"Jethro, when's high tide?"

"Already in, Duck, started in three hours ago."

"Then we're safe where we are."

"Yeah. Reminds me though, we need to scout out that pile of rocks that's the highest point on the island. Tim mentioned that as a tsunami safety zone. Need to make sure everyone knows that."

"And the warning signs of a tsunami."

"Yep, although I think the goats and the chickens probably will give us additional warning. Tim mentioned today that their three shadows were missing, that's what made him think about a storm."

"So if the animals suddenly head for the high point, we should too?"

"Something like that. Need to get up there and see how much room there is. Won't take long, not like building a ship!"

Ducky snorted, "Famous last words."

"Mitas go to see Tim?"

"Yes, about, well close to 30 minutes ago now."

"Is he still in that room with the pillar? He told me he likes to write in there."

"Yes, Jethro."

Mitas had found Tim madly writing in his notebook; he deliberately made some noise as he approached him. Tim looked up, his eyes unfocused, "Oh hi Mitas, Ducky tell you where I was?"

"Yeah, hope that's ok?"

"Sure, just not ready to deal with the brats right now." Mitas chuckled.

"They were pretty bratty, weren't they?"

"Yeah, it's hell being the youngest sometimes. Although Ziva is actually younger than I am, but when Gibbs first transferred me to the team, we didn't know Ziva, she was still in Mossad. It was Gibbs, Tony, a former Secret Service agent named Kate – Caitlyn Todd – and me, the Probie. Tony's nearly ten years older than me, Kate was seven years older; I was definitely the youngest. Then when Ziva came onto the team straight from Mossad, she was so tough and scary and mysterious, she seemed far older than me."

"You said Kate _was_ seven years older. And I haven't heard her mentioned before."

"Yeah, she was murdered a few years ago, by a Hamas terrorist."

"Killed by a terrorist? Where was she?"

"Norfolk."

"Virginia?" Tim nodded. "Oh my God, you weren't kidding about being in a dangerous line of work. I thought you just solved murders and drug busts and stuff. I mean, I've been totally impressed how you guys handled Rogers, but Hamas, wow."

"We handle all sorts of different cases. Gibbs' team has the highest success rate – that's cases closed with convictions – of the entire agency."

"You guys are proud of that."

"Yeah, we are, part of the reason we get in each other's faces sometimes, we're together a lot, far more than most law enforcement teams. Gibbs has really high standards and he's very picky about who he'll work with."

"So what are you going to do about tonight?"

"Accept their apologies when they mean them. They accept mine; it's how we deal with each other."

"So you're not perfect."

"Far from it, I just don't have much of a temper or maybe I control it, take your pick. And I've never bullied anyone in my life, as far as I know."

"So because you're soft spoken and don't fight back you get picked on more."

"Used to be that way, I've learned to bite back more now. Tony hates that."

"Because it means he can't get away with stuff. "

"He thinks I'm mean." Both men had a chuckle at that.

"What do you do about that?"

"Recorded him a few times when he was at it, then the next time he called me mean, I played it back. Kept it too."

"Did it stop him?"

"It made him think; slowed him down a little and now he and I are getting to be friends. This thing tonight is an old issue that keeps popping up and it was my fault to begin with."

"Yeah, how many years ago?"

"Two."

"Yeah, so they're still digging their claws into you, it's time to stop the guilt and dig back. Seems like that's the only thing that will stop them."

"Yeah, you have brothers, don't you?"

"Yep, I'm in the middle and trust me the only way they're going to get it is if you dig right back at them, even if it stirs up the shit. I like Tony, but I can see he's got some blind spots, like all of us, I suppose. You need to zero in on those so he can see what he's doing. Make kind of a mirror image."

"Huh, hadn't thought of that."

"Try it, see what happens."

"You mean other than my boss killing us both?"

"Yeah well there is that."

"Thanks Cory, it's good to talk with someone a little more objective. "

"'S ok, Tim, just know as the youngest in the family, you're really in a position of power, I'll leave you to think about that. You want anything to eat?"

"Nah, my stomach is the first thing that gets tangled up, I could eat but I doubt it would stay down and that always upsets Gibbs and Ducky."

"Not you?"

Tim laughed, "Well I have been living with myself my entire life, so I'm used to it!"

Mitas laughed and standing up to leave traded the lantern for Ducky's book light. Sensing Tim might end up sleeping in here, he left behind the blanket he'd brought. He walked out using the book light to find his way back to the lantern light and passed Gibbs in the passageway. He smiled and nodded at the man, who was carrying more blankets. He thought he probably understood a little more about Tim and Gibbs than the others did but it was none of his business, much less anyone else's.

Gibbs walked into the shadowed room, realizing Mitas had left the lantern behind. He sat down next to Tim and without saying a word, pulled him into his arms, kissing the top of his head. They sat there for a long time, Tim safely wrapped up in Jethro's arms. Finally Tim moved, raising his hand, he caressed the face he'd come to love and smiled at him. Wrapping the blankets around them both, they lay down, very much aware of being in an open room just off a frequently used passageway to the bathrooms, too close to four other people and, truth be told, too tired to consider anything more than a warm cuddle. Gibbs reached out and turned the lantern off, then pulled Tim on top of him, cradling him in his arms as they both finally slept.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Day Nine: Forecast: Cloudy with a chance for apologies

Gibbs woke at 0500 with Tim still in his arms, wondering where they were. He groaned softly as he realized Tim was draped on top of him and there was no mattress below him. He hoped the storm had abated so he could have a hot, or at least a warm, bath to ease his aching muscles. He lay there, enjoying the feel of Tim in his arms in the morning when he felt his…what was he? Not-quite -lover although he supposed they were lovers in intent, partners, boyfriends? He grimaced at that, at his age?

His partner, his lover, his Tim was stirring, starting to wake up. Softly kissing the top of his head, he ran his hands up and down the young man's back and laughed when he swore he heard Tim purring. He loved the response; Tim dipped his hands under Jethro's shirt and explored his chest. When Tim crawled up to kiss him, they had one very passionate kiss before Gibbs broke it off, looking at his man in the dim light, shaking his head. Tim smiled, they'd had this night, never expected and whatever else happened, he'd treasure this extra time alone.

Gibbs rose, taking one of the blankets, leaving the lantern and headed to the men's bathroom. Tim crawled back in the blankets and snuggled in for a little more warmth. He waited until he heard both Gibbs and Mitas pass the room on their way to the common area, then rose, gathered his writing pad, blankets and lantern and padded his way to the table, dropping the blankets on his empty mattress and tucking his writing pad into his go bag as he went by. If Tony snooped, he wouldn't like what he saw but it would be his own fault and Tim was done hiding things from him. Mitas was right; it was time to fight fire with fire. He just hoped he didn't have to put those words into action anytime soon.

Smiling at Mitas and Jeth…Gibbs as he arrived at the nice warm fire pit, he gratefully accepted the coffee mug being held out to him and gulped it down. Gibbs had the mug filled again before Tim realized he'd finished the first one. Tim liked this, he loved the feeling of being cherished; it was something he'd really only experienced with Joey and in a totally different way, with Penny and Grandpa Nelson. Idly, he wondered what they would do today and then realized with a start that there were fences that needed mending. He walked over to the point of their beach where he could see outside the cavern and saw only clouds. He'd hoped for sunshine so he could take the pots back out. He resolved to look out the staircase after breakfast and then got busy getting the plates, mugs and cutlery onto the table. He suddenly realized he was starving and looked at Mitas.

The cook smiled at him, saying, "I made extra eggs and potatoes for you this morning, Tim, to make up for last night. Oh and I found an unopened bottle of ketchup, so you can do the honors if you'd like. "

"Thanks, Cory!" Tim reflected that even after 9 days, he was still enjoying the potatoes and eggs. In three more days, the cream would be ready and he could make butter, maybe they could have pancakes with butter and jam, he'd seen an unopened jar of boysenberry jam, his favorite, in the food box. Thinking about the butter, he realized they should probably try milking both nannies so there would always be cream in the making in the boat's refrigerator. He said that aloud without realizing it and then paused, fork nearly to his mouth when Gibbs and Mitas stared at him.

"What?"

"You said something about the nannies."

"Oh, we need to milk them both, so we can always have the cream separating and butter on hand."

A minute later, something else ticked over in his brain. "Gibbs, that hot tub is meant to be portable."

"Yeah."

"We carried it, the six of us, up the beach, up to the bottom of the hill, then pulled it by rope to the top and then carried it again to where it is now. "

"Yeah, Tim, know that, we were there, where you going with this?"

"We carried it, Boss," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "it can't be all that heavy, none of us are Charles Atlas."

"Thought you said we couldn't tow it?"

"Not tow it, Mitas, build it into the upper deck. Build a frame for it so it's secure, fasten it down, and take the cover off when it's raining guys. It's a cistern now; it can be our cistern on the ship too."

Seeing the skeptical looks on both faces, Tim, without thinking, reached out and plucked Gibbs' notepad and pencil from his shirt pocket. Mitas hid a smile while the tips of Gibbs' ears reddened and his eyes glowed a bit. Tim drew it out, a frame more or less matching the shape of the hot tub, in which the tub would sit, gathering water for them when it rained.

"Whatever we do, we're going to need something to catch rain water and little metal buckets all over the deck are not going to be enough. But this - we can fasten it to the deck, there's gizmos on it for that anyway; we can drain some of the water into jugs and the buckets, store them below when we raise the sail so we don't lose it all."

Gibbs looked thoughtful while he looked at the drawing although in truth he was reliving the astounding moment when Tim had reached into his shirt pocket.

"That would work, I can't think of anything that might hinder it."

"What did old sailing ships use, Boss?"

"Barrels or casks, I suppose, of water or wine."

"Multiple barrels, I'll bet, they'd need several for a crew and to have on deck for rainwater. Those had to be as heavy if not heavier, collectively, than our hot tub. And we could reinforce the deck to lessen the concern about the weight."

"That's a good idea, that's a really good idea, Tim. This is our answer. Good work!"

"And Boss, we could take the hose and valve with us, on sunny days when we're running on solar power, we could fill the tubs for baths."

"And build that water pump so we can reverse the process and pump the water out of the tubs straight into the ocean."

"Actually, we can pump it into a smaller cistern to use to flush the toilet and for the plants, Boss. Gray water - I'll filter for soap and other elements. On my design, I have a space at the back of the forward section storage compartment with shelving and a porthole so the plants would get light."

"Will that be enough?"

"I think we'll probably have to bring them out on the deck for some real sun, but they'll be mature enough by then to make do with partial light."

"So we're going to dig up the plants and bring them with us?"

"Yeah, the tomatoes especially, as they're rich in Vitamin C, needed to avoid scurvy. And we'll see how the other stuff plays out."

"I hate to even ask you this, Tim, but can you make a grow lamp?"

"To run on solar power, sure Mitas, not a problem, just need a light tube."

Gibbs grinned, "Wait, it's not ready yet, the elves say try back tomorrow."

"Very funny Boss." Tim took his last delicious bite. He looked around and then up at Cory. "Wanted to give you that extra, Tim, without whining from anyone."

"Appreciate it, Cory, but don't treat me any differently, please, that'll just make everything more awkward. Going to be a couple of weird days before things smooth out again."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his lover, and hand on his shoulder, steered him away from the table. "Could I possibly get you to help me with that stupid valve?"

"Sure Boss, come on over to my workbench. Cory, let us know when the others are done eating, I'll do cleanup today."

"Nope, it's my turn, McGee."

"Ok Boss, if you insist. Cory, let Gibbs know."

"Roger that, Tim." Cory smiled to himself; let them go build something; they'd feel better for it.

He'd noticed Ziva was awake but hadn't yet risen. He guessed she might not be sure of her welcome. He sliced more potatoes into the skillet, waited until they were browned and then banged the pot, pouring the eggs immediately after. Ducky was already up and headed back from the men's room when Ziva finally rose, following the doctor to the table. The teakettle was just starting to whistle when Ziva reached for it, while Ducky headed for their mugs and the tea. Setting everything on the table, the doctor turned and looked back at the beds, noticing Tony was still asleep. He shrugged and sat down to eat with Ziva. As Ducky stirred his tea, he looked around and then at Mitas.

The cook answered him, determined to break the awkward silence. "I made Tim extra eggs and potatoes this morning as he never did eat anything last night. Thought I'd give him a chance to eat first, you know without any complaining from anyone that he was getting extra. Then Gibbs asked him for help with that valve, so they're over at that workbench Tim set up yesterday."

Ziva swallowed her breakfast past the big lump in her throat. She had understood whom Mitas meant with his dig about complaining. She deserved that, so did DiNozzo. She did not like that Tim was working with someone else at their workbench, the one she had helped him set up yesterday. Before she had been so stupid. Before Tim did not eat any dinner because she and Tony had been so mean and petty, bullying him. She had never been a bully, yes, in her work as a Mossad operative but never in her personal life.

For a second she hated DiNozzo for pulling her into his mean game, then sighed realizing it was her own fault, no one had forced her. Having eaten all she could, she took her tea and left the table, wanting to apologize to Tim and beg him to forgive her. Now that was melodramatic, she had not shot or stabbed him.

She remembered what Ducky had said to Gibbs last night, how disappointed he was that she had so quickly forgotten her vow to be a better friend to Tim. Instead, she had turned on him for something that did not matter, was of no consequence, and had been dealt with years ago. Setting her tea cup down, she squared her shoulders and walked toward the workbench. Gibbs saw her and had a look in his eyes. She knew that look; however, she had not had it aimed at her before. That look said 'You hurt one of mine and I will make you regret the day you were born'. He said something to Tim who must have asked him for some time as Gibbs walked by her with two coffee mugs. She understood she had one minute perhaps two to privately state her case.

Reaching out, she touched the back of Tim's arm, "Tim, I am so sorry about the way I acted last night. I will do my best to be a better friend, to even be a friend. I am ashamed, you have always been a friend to me and I have failed you when I could have stopped it, I could have stood up with you. Please forgive me."

"It's 'stood up for you', Ziva. Why did you do it?"

"I don't know, I think it was exhaustion. I got caught up in the moment. I pray it was just that."

"Ziva, I pray it wasn't, that's mob mentality you just admitted to. I give my trust to people until they prove themselves untrustworthy and last night, that's what you did. I didn't deserve that. It's been two years; you need to grow up and get over it. I said my apologies two years ago and you said you accepted it. This is not accepting it. As I said, it is mob mentality, Ziva, you falling right in with the bully of the group. I'm more disappointed in you than anything else. I can forgive you, but you've really put a dent in my trust in you; and I'm not so sure about our friendship, doesn't mean much without trust."

"I understand, Tim, I will work hard to regain it. May I work with you on the solar power today?"

"Not today, I need to work on a couple of other things, Ziva, maybe tomorrow."

Nodding and trying to smile through her tears, Ziva turned and walked numbly past Gibbs, returning with their coffee. Mitas looked at her and saw she was genuinely upset with her actions and words; not likely to forget this.

She walked straight to her bathroom where she spent several minutes fighting her tears again before she finally gave in and let them spill. She was determined to regain Tim's trust and friendship and Tony could…take a flying kite.

Tony feigned sleep until everyone left the table, then got dressed and wandered over, finding a plate of lukewarm eggs and potatoes on the side of the grill. Swallowing his pride as he really was starving, he sat at the table and ate, only afterward checking the coffee pot and finding it empty. He whined to himself, it just wasn't fair and then decided to man up and make his own coffee. He did it at home, he'd just gotten used to Mitas, Tim or Gibbs making the coffee here. Or Ducky or Ziva, he swallowed again, hard, as he realized he was the only one who had never made a pot of coffee for anyone here. He just waited until someone else showed up to do it. Now he got the pot ready and noticed the fire had gone out. Snarling, he tried to remember what he'd seen Gibbs do as he tried to relight the fire. Finally he gave up; he didn't want the damn coffee anyway.

He went and sat on the bench. God he was tired. He hadn't slept last night, not knowing where Tim had gone, never noticing, in his anger and upset, that Gibbs' bed was equally empty. He didn't know how to fix this. Gibbs and Ducky had called him a bully; he wasn't really, was he? They must have just been angry. What was he supposed to do now?

Startled he heard Mitas call out to Gibbs, something about cleanup and then noticed his new friend standing there with a bucket.

"Tony, Gibbs needs water for the cleanup. Could you run upstairs and grab some from the cistern? Here's a poncho, don't know if it's still raining." Tony nodded, on automatic pilot. Gibbs would start the fire and put the coffee pot on. He just needed to bring water down, he could do that. He slipped the poncho on then looked around for anyone else to go up with him. The only one that he knew was not angry with him, besides Mitas, was Ziva and he didn't see her anywhere. Mitas was busy with something and besides, if he were going to go, he would have asked Tony to go with him.

Shrugging, he took the bucket and headed to the staircase and up, shoving the damn bush out of the way. He was blasted in the face with a burst of rain and he shivered as he felt the water sliding down inside his clothes. Man, they'd better appreciate this. He was suffering for their stupid water.

He hurried over to the cistern and moved the rocks off the cover so he could get to the water. The wind was still howling and as he held the cover in one hand, it was ripped from his hands and flew down the island, out of sight. Sighing, Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath, could have happened to anyone. Didn't, happened to him, on the worst morning of all bad mornings after a really bad night. He dipped the bucket in the cistern, then made his way back to the staircase and carefully climbed down, remembering to replace the bush.

He made it to the bottom without slipping or spilling the water and gladly handed it off to Gibbs who took it without a word. Mitas took one look and handed him a dry towel. Grabbing clean dry clothes, he marched to the men's room to dry off and change. He wanted to go home, _now_. And probably hide under his bed. Instead, he changed and fell back onto his mattress and was sound asleep in minutes.

Gibbs lit the fire, noticing several used matches in the fire pit. Picking up the coffee pot, he noticed it was full and he peeked in, yep Tony had tried to start the fire and make his version of coffee. The water was clear, so he poured it into the sauce pan, then carefully dumped the coffee onto a plate and then measured it back into the coffee basket, adding 3 additional scoops.

He made a mental note to find things Tony could be successful at and stick with those. Or have him make every damn fire until he figured it out, it was not rocket science! With the coffee on the fire, Gibbs reached out to the bucket and looked at it again; he really hadn't looked when he'd taken it from DiNozzo. It was barely half full. Sighing, he looked for his Second and noticed he was back in bed.

Shaking his head, he looked for Ziva or Ducky; Mitas had done his work, he was off duty as far as Gibbs was concerned. He was not going out there by himself and he bet anything DiNozzo had, otherwise his partner would have pointed out the lack of water in the bucket.

When Ziva shuffled back from the bathroom, he motioned to her to grab a bucket and a poncho; they were needed for water duty.

He left the bucket Tony had brought and grabbed an empty one; he and Ziva would bring back two full buckets of water. He picked up a dry poncho and slipped it on, tightening the neck cord so the hood would stay up and water would not seep down his back and chest. The sides had Velcro fastenings so he had arm movement without getting soaked. Ziva followed his example and they set out.

Mitas saw them and raised one eyebrow. "DiNozzo went out and got wet but he didn't bring water in the bucket?"

"Just about half a bucket; thought we might need more hot beverages today with the damp."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Gibbs."

"Not your fault, Cory and remember, Rule…?"

"Uh, 6, I think."

Ziva smiled, "You are right, that is Rule 6."

The two figures, cozy in their ponchos, carefully moved the bush, keeping their heads turned away so they wouldn't get blasted with water. They cautiously walked to the cistern, frowning as they got closer and noticed the cover was gone. Noticing the rocks piled neatly on the ground, Gibbs cursed; this was more sloppy work on DiNozzo's part.

Ziva gave Gibbs her bucket and then walked twenty feet downwind. Smiling, she returned, "It is caught in one of the fir trees, I believe the two of us will be able to bring it back."

Gibbs sighed, "Better do it now, Ziva, it could disappear to the next island by the time the storm passes."

Setting the empty buckets down and anchoring them with rocks, the two walked or rather, were blown down the center path of the island. Ziva pointed and they turned east to the cover eating tree; after wrestling with the tree branches for a while, they won their prize and turned into the wind to head back to the cistern. It took them twice as long to return struggling against the fierce gale, but finally they made it back to the cistern. Facing into the wind, Ziva held the cover in both hands while Gibbs filled the buckets. Then they carefully put the cover on, and once again anchored it with the rocks. Returning to the cavern, they met a relieved group at the fire pit, Tim paler than usual and Gibbs realized they'd been gone over an hour.

"You were gone so long."

"Jethro, we were going to call on the WT, but the wind is so loud we didn't think you'd hear it."

"The cover of the tub must have blown off when DiNozzo went up by himself. Ziva found it halfway down the island and I was afraid it would be blown out to sea if we didn't get it now, so we walked, well really blew down the island, fought a tree for it then fought our way back into the wind. Then we filled the buckets and put the cover back on, anchored it down tight."

Helping hands removed the ponchos and gave them warm dry towels, poured them coffee and tea.

Gibbs took a few sips. "Anyone see DiNozzo this morning?"

Mitas answered, "I did, Gibbs, I left him a plate of eggs and potatoes off the side of the grill for breakfast. I was the one who asked him to get water after he ate. He was trying to light the fire and I couldn't stand watching him anymore, so I asked him to go for water, figuring he'd go find Ziva or Ducky to go with him. When he came back, he was wet clean through, not just his poncho. He didn't have the neck thing fastened or the sides like yours and Ziva's. I gave him a towel and the next time I looked, he was back in bed asleep."

"He went up by himself, and in that wind he's lucky he didn't just get blown straight off the island. We can't afford mistakes like that, bad feelings or not."

Tim shook his head emphatically, "No, we're not doing this. I am _not_ losing Tony or any of you. For any reason. Yeah, I know that was a stupid thing last night, but this can't go on, we're alone here, we're family and we can't put ourselves at risk like Tony did this morning, " Tim's voice got thick with emotion and he had to whisper the rest, "I will not lose any more people I love to an island or the sea. I won't, you can treat me however you want, but you need to take care of yourselves."

He ended his declaration by grabbing Ziva in a tight hug and she returned the embrace. Gibbs swallowed the lump in his throat and patted his lover and his surrogate daughter on their backs.

Straightening his shoulders, he let out his best bellow, "DiNozzo, report NOW." Tony's head popped up and he twisted, trying to free himself of his blankets. Luckily, he was still dressed and he stumbled over to the table.

Tim grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, "DiNozzo I love you like a brother and I'm telling you now if you ever pull that crap on me again, I'm going to beat the snot out of you, got it?" Tony looked at him, dazed, and then closed his eyes and nodded, trying to stop the emotion.

Tim grabbed him and Ziva and held on while Tony tried to sputter out his apology and Tim tried to tell them both how much he loved them but they were to stop being buttheads about his effing books.

Mitas smiled proudly and then stopped when he noticed Ducky and Gibbs giving him strange looks. He whispered, "Family." to Ducky as he turned to the fire pit. Gibbs gave him a great clout on the back that nearly knocked him down although he was sure it was meant in friendship.

After all the hoopla died down, Mitas announced he was making hot chocolate. Gibbs and Ducky passed in favor of their favorite hot beverages. The three men and Ziva had the hot chocolate and it helped to dispel the damp and the worry of the stormy morning. By the time they'd finished the chocolate, the wash water was hot enough and Tony and Ziva volunteered for cleanup, including the nearly forgotten breakfast dishes. Tony was still jumpy, he figured he was going to catch hell from Gibbs for going up alone and for his attitude. Having been forgiven and being told Tim loved him like a brother had done wonders for his mood and his attitude; now he just needed to square things up with Gibbs, take whatever he had coming and move on.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Day Ten: Working It Out

Earlier Tim had figured out the problem with the valve and now with everyone calmer, Gibbs finished his work on it. After attaching it to the hose, he drafted Ziva to help him test it. Dipping the hose in the half-filled bucket, she placed it up on the table and their second bucket on the floor of the cavern. Gibbs held the valve end of the hose over the second bucket and turned the handle, sure enough water flowed into the bucket. Turning the handle back to the closed position, the water stopped without even a drop afterward. The whole group cheered, now they could avoid the bucket brigade. It was a small thing but it would help make their lives here more comfortable. They did decide to wait for the storm to pass before hauling the hose up to the cistern.

Tim looked at Gibbs, his eyes sparkling, "Are you still thinking about building a water pump? You are, aren't you? And then you're going to install it at the spring, so we don't even have to carry buckets from the spring to the cistern! Boss, we won't get any exercise!"

"Thinking about the storms, like today, glad you thought to use the cistern as a catch-basin for rain water or we might have been forced down to the spring to get water. We'll get plenty of exercise working on the boat, Tim; we're going to need all our energy for that. We'll have time off every day, but I'd like that time off to be spent relaxing, not hauling water. It's another little thing, but those little things add up. Besides, we'll need a pump on the boat."

Tim just shook his head, grinning at his lover, walking over to a box of parts he had been gathering and plunked them down on the table.

"Well then, I guess these bits and pieces will come in handy."

Gibbs peered into the box, picking up each piece and setting it out. When he had everything out, he looked at all the pieces and started laughing, "Ok Tim, how come you just didn't build it for me?"

"What and take away all your fun? Besides, I'm the solar power guy, not the water pump guy."

"Probie, how come you know how to do all this? I thought you'd led a geeky life."

"Only if geeky means puttering and putting puzzles together, Tony. Remember I told you about my Grandpa Nelson Langston? He loved to putter when he was home and I spent a lot of time with him. He was always trying to figure out how to make this or that, sometimes he'd take things apart just to see how they were made and I picked that up from him. It was really cool when we lived in different countries, one of the first things he and I would do is visit the local version of a hardware store. He would always buy samples of this or that; sometimes he used them but mostly he just kept them. When he died, Penny gave me all his sample jars."

"You still have them, Tim, don't you?"

"Yeah Boss, I do. I've even used a few things when I'm building … this or that." While Tim had forgiven Tony for the previous night, the man was still the most annoyingly nosy creature on earth and Tim preferred to keep his personal life private.

"You build stuff at home?"

"Well, you know, Tony, sometimes Penny will need something, stuff like that."

"Oh, I thought maybe you were a secretly a builder like Boss."

"Nope, no sailboats in my basement – actually, no basement!"

Putting everything back in the box, Gibbs waited until Tim was through covering his near-slip with Tony and then announced, "I'll build the water pump because you have enough to do with all your solar gizmos. However, we are going to call it the Nelson Langston water pump, in your grandfather's memory."

"That's good, Boss, we can call it the Nelson!"

Tim nodded at both Gibbs and DiNozzo, "I like that idea, and I know Grandpa would too, thanks guys."

Gibbs nodded as he walked the box over to Tim's workbench. He liked that idea too; he wished Grandpa Nelson was still alive; he'd like to thank him for raising his Tim to be the man he was. He spread the pieces out, using the far end of the workbench and then realized he needed light. He turned to get one from their table and nearly ran into Tim, standing there with a lantern burning brightly in his hand.

"Thought we could both use this, I'm ready to start on my laptop charger."

"Will I be in your way?"

"Nope, the plank's long enough for both of us to use it. Ziva's going to help too. I was going to work on some other stuff by myself, but with the weather still bad, I might as well get these things going and we can test them all when the storm clears."

"You mean it'll give Ziva something to do and lessen the odds of Tony dying by office supplies?"

"Yeah, don't know what he's going to do down here all day."

"Hmm, good point. Maybe he and Mitas can work on a meal together or something. He doesn't read and he doesn't work with his hands, don't know what else he can do."

"Have an idea."

"Spit it out!"

"He could be the first with the campfire entertainment, only instead of a book, he can tell us about one of his favorite movies. He's really pretty interesting when he gets into it, remembers all the plot points and the dialogue. Would be something different and he'd know we're interested and that we respect his hobby."

"Huh, so you think that's a problem?"

"Right now it might be, after discovering I know how to do all these other things; he's had me pegged as a geek, no threat to him all these years. I'd just as soon not have to deal with more fallout from my 'building skills'. Not to mention any grief from noticing you and I are spending more time together. He's always held that spot with you."

Gibbs sat in thought. "We're different; I mean our relationships are different. You never needed me to be a father figure and I never thought of you as a son. I'm not saying this right, Tim, I've always loved you, but not in a paternal way."

Tim swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. "As nasty as my father was, I had a very loving and fulfilling familial relationship with my grandfather. When Penny brought me home – to their home – after I was discharged from the hospital when I was 4, he was there. He'd taken emergency leave to be there with me. He stepped up and became my father. I never questioned that, I suppose because I was so young, but I remember that it was wonderful and it stayed that way for the rest of his life. I was his son; they even spoke of officially adopting me. So, you're right, I never needed you to step into that role. Mentor, yes and you do that well, but not paternal."

"Still, there are different kinds of relationships; I could have tried to get to know you better."

"I wouldn't have let you, Jethro, I had my hidden life, my secret, remember? I used to think that maybe you sensed I needed privacy."

"I supposed I did, in a way. I thought you wanted to be different than the rest of us, that you were different and wanted to maintain that distance and I respected that. You think Tony is going to be hurt when he learns about us?"

"Yes, even though, as you said, it's not the same type of relationship. What he's going to see is me slipping into the number one spot he already has to share with Abby."

That rocked Gibbs and he grabbed onto the workbench.

"Tim, I…I've made a hash out of all this. From the beginning. Last night after you left, Ducky told me some things about Abby, how she too is a bully and that you chose to keep your job rather than confront her and risk my wrath."

"Yes. But that was my choice, Jethro."

"You shouldn't have had to make that choice, Tim, you should have been able to tell her no or stand up to her without fearing repercussions from me."

"Maybe, but again, I couldn't afford too close a scrutiny, Jethro, not at first and then after Joey died, I just…it was easier to keep it to myself and let Abby have her way."

"How many times?"

"I'm not going to give you a number, Jethro because I don't want you to dwell on it. Please, just be here with me, with the rest of us. When we get home, we're going to have a lot of adjustments to make, we can work on it then, but now, it'll just eat up your energy and I'd rather you focus your energy on us."

"I'm not happy that there's a hierarchy among you four, Tim, that's wrong."

Tim kept quiet since he felt his boss had created that hierarchy but he did not want to focus on it nor did he feel confident enough yet in their fledgling relationship to confront the issue. Unfortunately, Gibbs knew his man, or at least the agent he'd worked with for four years, well enough to realize what his silence meant.

He grabbed him and pulled him close, with no thought of where they were. "Tim, I screw up relationships, I've screwed up every one I've been in except me and Shannon. I don't want that with us. I want this to work, I love you and I want you in my life, for keeps."

Tim blinked back tears, wanting nothing more than to comfort the man, but he knew that he was going to have to be the practical one. "Look at me, Jethro, I'm here. I'm not running away and yes, I know we're stuck here but if I wanted out, there are ways we could be separate. You need to put all this behind us or away for now, this isn't the time. Now is the time to concentrate on building our relationship, we can renovate later!"

Gibbs gave a shaky laugh at the analogy and squeezing Tim's shoulders, let him go.

"I still don't know what to do about Tony. You think if I spent time with him, and Ziva, equally, that would help?"

"Yeah, it should."

"He needs to know a lot of things here, survival techniques, even the simple stuff, how to light a fire."

"So teach him, that's what Dads do, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'm going to gather the components for the laptop charger and see if Ziva wants to help. Maybe you could ask Tony if he'd like to lead off with a movie re-play tonight."

"I need to talk with him anyway, yeah, I'll do that."

"I'll be back in about 10 minutes." Tim walked off, grabbing a cup of coffee on the way, and found Ziva, wrapped in a blanket, sitting in a chair reading her Jules Verne novel.

"Hey Zee, want some tea, I can put some water on."

"No, thank you Tim, I have had too much already today."

"Ok. Mind if I join you for a sec, got a question to ask you."

"Of course not."

"I planned to work on my writing and some other personal projects today, but I'd rather do that on a nice bright sunny day when I can sit on the beach. So I thought instead I'd get started on the laptop charger and maybe even the ATV charger. We can't test them but we can build them and test them when the storm passes. Would you like to help me again? I really enjoyed that yesterday, thought we made a good team."

"Thank you, I would love to."

"All right, I'm going to gather all the pieces, I have them in one of the storage tubs, I'll meet you over at the workbench in 10 minutes."

"Is there room? I noticed Gibbs is working there as well."

"Yep, plenty of space."

Finishing his coffee, Tim moved over to his bed and, taking a look at the row of mattresses, bit back a laugh. They had been here for just a week today and from the looks of things, had settled in quite well. Various clothing items, shoes, books, and papers decorated the tops of the mattresses of the younger set, Ducky's and Gibbs' were quite neat and tidy, although each had a variety of things stacked between their mattress and the cavern wall. Mitas, Ziva and Tim's beds were made; Tony's blankets were pulled up with quite a bit of mattress showing at the foot. He hoped Tony would be happy about his movie replay this evening.

Deciding to hit the head before diving into the solar charger work, he wandered down the passageway, hurrying a bit when he heard low voices as he passed one of the rooms. That might be Gibbs and Tony; he did not want to inadvertently eavesdrop.

XXX

The voices he heard were indeed Gibbs and Tony. Tony had expected this; he knew that his boss would have plenty more to say about his actions last night and this morning. What surprised him was that Gibbs didn't yell, didn't use his threatening tone of voice. He quietly explained that bullying was not acceptable and he, Gibbs, believed that Tony had the strength of character to change his behavior. Gibbs acknowledged Tim's forgiveness but warned DiNozzo of specific consequences if it happened again. Tony was freaked out by the lack of yelling and threats and took the warning to heart. He had barely started to come to terms with what he'd done when Tim had grabbed him earlier; the only thing he could think now was that he never wanted anyone to think of him as a bully ever again. Swallowing his pride, Tony opened up to Gibbs, "Boss, I overheard you and Ducky last night. I didn't realize Tim – or you and the others – thought of me as a bully. I hate that, I don't want to ever hear or be told that again."

"Good, Tony, that's good news. There's a line between teasing and bullying, son, and I think you need to learn that line or get re-acquainted with it. If you need help with that, Ducky or I are here." He went on to tell DiNozzo that teasing and his jokes were fine, they all enjoyed his sense of humor but the bullying was done and pranks were not acceptable here in this environment.

"I should have realized what was going on a long time ago, Tony and stopped you or helped Tim stand up to you."

"Boss, I'm…I'm not the only one who…"

"Yes, I know that now too, DiNozzo, that Abby takes advantage of my feelings for her. Believe me, there will be some big changes when we get home. "

"Yes Boss."

He was then taken to task for his failure to adhere to the 'buddy' system this morning. When Gibbs told him how much he worried about Tony not knowing how to survive on the island, how horrified he'd been to realize that Tony could easily have been injured this morning, out in that wind by himself; Tony felt awful. He had obviously not been thinking about things before speaking or doing them, not with his actions last night and this morning clearly staring him in the face.

Gibbs outlined some things he wanted to teach Tony, so that he could be more self-reliant and in control and Tony listened. Nobody had ever done that. He'd either lived in houses with servants, nannies, maids, cooks, chauffeurs, to do things for him or he'd had to figure things out for himself. There were a lot of things he'd had to figure out for himself.

When Gibbs was done, Tony matched his tone and quietly asked him if he would teach him how to do a few other things he wished he knew. His boss smiled and squeezed his arm, of course, he would; from now on Tony had only to ask. Then, Gibbs asked him to kick off their fireside entertainment with a movie replay and Tony's face lit up. They both left the room, and their conversation, with much lighter hearts.

XXX

Back at the workbench, Tim had lugged over his storage container full of parts and placed it on the ground. He told Ziva what parts they needed and how they were going to build it, this one would be very similar to the phone charger. Ziva successfully found the parts, and the two proceeded to build the charger. It didn't take them long since the process was much the same as the previous day.

At some point Gibbs joined them at the other end of the workbench, whistling quietly to himself while he assembled the water pump. Although it certainly wasn't a competition, all three laughed when the charger and the pump were completed at the same time. Since the pump would be solar, Gibbs handed it over to his solar team.

Just about that time, Mitas announced lunch. He and Ducky, wearing life jackets at Ducky's insistence, had taken the raft out into the protected end of their little bay and caught several nice sized fish. When they came in, Tony offered to clean and gut them and they willingly agreed.

Now the group sat around the table, giving a rundown of what each had accomplished that morning. Tony announced he would be entertaining them with a verbal movie replay that evening, but would not tell them the movie, keeping it for a surprise.

As they finished cleaning up, Tony gently watered Tim's seeded pots with the rinse water and then pouring the rest into the bay, looked up into the large opening of the cavern and saw blue sky over a much calmer ocean. Motioning to Mitas, the two quietly went up the staircase and poked their heads out.

Sure enough, the rain had stopped, the winds died and the sun was burning brightly. Returning to the common area, both men spread the word that the storm had passed and the sun now shining. Grabbing their sunhats and a WT, they announced they were going up top to see what storm damage there was, if any and then nearly ran up the staircase and out into the sunshine.

The solar team, Tim and Ziva, were happy to hear the news as they could now test the laptop charger and with any luck, would be able to adapt that for the water pump. However, before Tim could do that, he wanted to get his 'pots with seeds' back into the sunshine. Along with their own hats, Tim, Ziva and Gibbs grabbed the three trays of plant pots and Ducky grabbed the small enclosure of chicken wire they'd taken in right as the storm hit.

Once up top, they found a beautifully sunny day, with just the usual afternoon breeze and not a cloud to be seen. The surface was strewn with palm fronds, branches and debris from the trees on the island. Mitas and Tony were picking up fallen coconuts, wondering if the green ones would ripen if left in the sun. Nobody knew the answer so Tim agreed to add them into the garden enclosure to see what happened.

Gibbs chuckled to himself, glad that he'd listened to Tim when they were cutting that chicken wire and made it twice as big as it looked like they needed.

They placed the trays of soon-to-be-seedlings down in the same formation as before, with the green coconuts in between. Tim observed that the ground was too muddy for the chargers to be placed directly on it, and he didn't want to use the metal cake pans Mitas offered. Mitas grinned and returned with a few pieces of packaging material and that did the trick.

While Tim and Ziva worked down below on the adaptor for the water pump, the others arranged the chicken wire once again and then Gibbs brought the open end of the hose up the stairs, ready to test their cistern 'faucet'. Ducky and Mitas went downstairs to test the valve while Gibbs and Tony wrestled the hose into the bottom of the cistern and then called downstairs to open the valve. Again using a bucket, Ducky opened the valve while Mitas held the hose. The water poured forth, gravity pulling it down the hose. The tricky part would be when the valve was closed, would it hold against the force of the water still in the hose? It did, Gibbs had done an excellent job and the valve held without even a drop of water.

They already knew the hose would stretch the length of the passageway to Ziva's bathroom, so there was no need to test that. Erring on the side of caution, they left the shutoff valve end of the hose in a bucket while declaring the test a success.

In the meantime, Tim had with Ziva's help, built the small adaptor for the charger so that it could be used both for the laptop and the water pump. The charger was already up top soaking up rays, so there was no testing possible at that point. Tim again set his watch alarm for three hours; they would test the water pump and adaptor then. The water pump was definitely the higher priority over his laptop.

Done with the valve and the water pump and reveling in the sunshine, Gibbs had no desire to go back downstairs and besides, Tim was also up top. He found the soggy box with Mitas' new barbecue, asked Tim to bring his toolbox up, pulled the parts out while he was waiting and found some pulpy mush on the bottom of the box that he decided must have been the instructions.

No problem, he knew how a barbecue operated and should look, they could figure it out. When Tim returned, Gibbs just held out the pulpy mush to him and asked him to read the directions as he went. Tim's mouth opened, then he caught on and they both laughed. It took them about thirty minutes to put it together; Mitas and Tony returned from their coving to watch.

When Ducky and Ziva joined them, they decided to leave the barbecue up top so they could eat outside once in a while. They also agreed they didn't want to return to the site of their previous barbecue the night Chief Rogers dined with them. Ziva found a good spot not too far from the cistern and they hauled the outdoor cooker over. Ducky and Ziva decided to go fishing for dinner while Tony and Mitas decided to find some wood for the cooker and the fire pit.


	20. Chapter 20

Thanks for your thoughtful reviews, they are much appreciated!

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Chapter Twenty

Day Ten: An Unexpected Interlude

After the four headed to the southern part of the island, Gibbs and Tim just looked at each other, grinning. Gibbs nearly ran down the stairs with his toolbox, grabbing blankets on the way back. He caught Tim by the hand and they hurried to the north cove, where they'd have lots of privacy. They found a spot under the trailhead, knowing they would not be easily seen, and lay the blankets down in the shade on the driest part of the sand. Tim had a passing thought that one of them would be uncomfortable with that blanket tonight but then Gibbs leaned in for a kiss and his mind went blank.

It was wonderful to relax with each other, although Tim later thought relaxing was not exactly the word for it. When Jethro said he was hungry, Tim pounced. Off went their shirts, and as they lay facing each other, he thoroughly explored Jethro's mouth with his tongue then moved it to lave the side of his neck, under his ears, down to his chest, paying close attention to his nipples and bellybutton.

Jethro was stroking down his back, dipping down to cup and stroke his backside; Tim could feel his lover start to tremble as his mouth and hands moved south. Finally those long fingers moved under Jethro's belt to his boxers. Giving that very promising package a loving squeeze, Tim sat up and gave his man a gentle push, so that Gibbs lay on his back. He tapped Gibbs' hip and the man lifted both hips while Tim undid his belt and pushed his pants and boxers away from his hardening shaft.

Moving from his side to between his legs, Tim leaned down, giving his lover a little bite on his inner thigh, marking him as his and then moved up to his penis and held it, licking, sucking and stroking. He reached with his other hand and played with Jethro's balls, then gave a stroke of his tongue to the sensitive area behind his sac, up to his entrance. Jethro, groaning with lust and pleasure, thrust up and Tim took him in his mouth, swallowing his shaft as deeply as he could.

He spent long minutes sucking that large penis, petting and stroking the man's sensitive body. All too soon he felt his lover's balls tighten and knew he was close to orgasm. He moved his lips just once more over the head and then Jethro came hard, calling out Tim's name. Tim swallowed every last drop, licking Jethro's cock clean.

As he finished his cleaning, he was grabbed into a soul searing kiss, and then flipped onto his back. Jethro moved between his legs and smiled in delight at Tim's giggles when Jethro stroked his nipples and his chest. He leaned in to suck and tickle some more. Tim writhed in pleasure as Jethro tickled one side and sucked the other. Stretching out over him, Jethro kissed lips, ears, below his ears, the junction of his neck and shoulder and then down to his navel. By that time, Tim was moaning and thrusting with his hips.

Jethro soon had his jeans and boxers off, carefully lifting his engorged penis away from the restrictive cloth. He took the head of Tim's penis, already leaking pre-cum, into his mouth, stroking the long shaft with one hand. The other hand found Tim's balls and pleasured them, then slipped behind to stroke up and around Tim's entrance.

Tim groaned in pleasure and Gibbs smiled at the sensuous sight of his young lover, hands ruffling through Gibbs hair and thrusting into his mouth. Letting go of his shaft, Jethro leaned down and sucked first one ball then the other into his mouth. Tim nearly came apart then, bucking at the pleasure and Jethro took the head of his penis back into his mouth, laving it with his tongue and lips. He felt Tim's balls tighten and he placed one hand on the man's chest to ground him while he came, so hard he saw stars, calling out Jethro's name. He swallowed his lover's cum and then following Tim's example, licked him clean.

Stretching out beside him, he pulled Tim onto his chest. Both men rested, enjoying their post-orgasmic cuddle. Jethro relished holding his young man in his arms and soon was stroking his back and ass. Tim relished feeling cherished and knew that Joey would have been happy he'd found love again. When Tim's watch buzzed, both men startled and then realized their three hours of freedom were nearly up.

Before they headed back to the testing area, they took a quick dip in the cove, rinsing off any evidence of their loving. They dried off with their blankets then dressed carefully, making sure each item went on the right person. Shaking their blankets out, they folded them, put their sun hats on and climbed back up the trail to the surface of the island. No one was at the test site, so they took the blankets and headed below with them. They brought the water pump and adaptor back up with them and soon were involved in testing their new devices. All three, charger, adaptor and pump worked quite well and when the others arrived, they found the two bringing up the bench and chairs. The table stayed below; they could hold their plates on their laps.

Tony and Mitas arrived back carrying the body of a dead chicken – a rooster. They'd found it under a fallen tree limb, and figured the rooster had been caught out in the storm and struck by the large branch when it fell. They knew it had to be plucked and cleaned, but didn't know where to start.

Gibbs sighed, he didn't really mind but he was starting to wish someone else had also had relatives with a working farm. Once again, he decided to teach rather than just do the job. So while Ducky built the fire in the bowl of the barbecue, Gibbs showed the crew how to pluck a chicken and then clean it. Once it was ready for cooking, Mitas took it down below to season. He brought it back up with a sauce he'd whipped up, along with a new paintbrush to use as a basting brush.

Knowing their boss would want roasted potatoes Tim and Tony went below and scrubbed a few for the group. They would reuse the foil from the other night, but waited to wrap the potatoes, remembering Mitas doing something with cloves of garlic and onion as they roasted. Picking through the cans of vegetables, they settled once again on green beans and corn.

Bringing the skillet, onion, garlic, the canned vegetables and the potatoes back upstairs, Mitas shook his head at them. No knife. Four knives were quickly offered, but he held up his hands.

"Come on, guys, I need a kitchen knife! And a lantern, it's going to get dark up here pretty quickly."

Shaking their heads at their idiocy, the two agents went back for the knife as well as Cory's cutting board, the plates, cutlery, 2 of the lanterns, the teakettle and coffeepot along with tea bags and of course coffee. They put it all in one of the storage tubs, remembering cups and mugs at the last second. Laughing at themselves, they hoped they'd have it more together next time!

While the chicken roasted on the grill, with Cory basting it, and the potatoes with their slivers of garlic and onion to distract everyone from the lack of butter, baking in their foil wraps, the group caught up with their afternoons. At least most of the group did.

Tony and Mitas had been cleaning the paths, moving the storm debris off the center of the island, collecting anything useful, including the wood now cooking their dinner, and had visited the hens and goats. There were not as many eggs, Gibbs explained that was likely due to the storm, and the nanny goat had only given them half a jar of milk.

Once they put those items in the cooler, they came back up and went farther south, closer to the beach; there they discovered the dead rooster. Not sure they should touch it they called Ducky for his advice. He and Ziva were still fishing and had caught several; when Ducky heard there was chicken he and Ziva went to the first cove and dug out another storage tub.

Walking back to the bay, they filled the tub with seawater and put their catch in; covered the tub with a snap on lid and then hauled it downstairs to the cavern bay, putting it in the shallows. The water there was cool enough to keep the fish overnight.

Afterward, they returned to the first cove with Mitas and Tony, curious to see if there were new treasures and what effect the storm had on the flotsam they'd left untouched. The whole cove had been rearranged with the high tide and the winds. They hadn't found any new boxes of any interest but there did seem to be a lot of bits and pieces, all metal. That dragged Gibbs' attention away from his thoughts about Tim and their time together this afternoon.

"What kind of metal, Duck? From a vehicle, a plane, a boat, or manufacturing? More shipping containers?"

"Yes, we were conjecturing, Jethro, that it might be pieces of the Chimera. We are due west of the site where she was blown up; it is possible the currents along with the storm have brought some of the ship to us."

There was dead silence after that remark, finally broken by Ziva.  
"I hope it is not Chimera. I do not wish to see any part of that ship or anything to do with it ever again."

"I agree with you, Zeever. It still presents a danger to us. " Gibbs swallowed his coffee and thought about how to say this. "If the Russians, or employees of the Russians, are still looking for the warhead, all they'd have to do is fly overhead to see the amount of debris on this island. If that were me and I was looking for something as important as that damn warhead, I'd be mighty curious to see what else had floated over to this island. Actually it wouldn't even take a flyover; they could be searching every island within a 200 -300 miles radius."

He sighed as he looked at the anxious faces around him. "They've probably got divers all over the spot where Chimera went down. With any luck, they'll concentrate on that for several months. Maybe their government will pull the plug on their search, thinking it irretrievably lost. That's the best we can hope for."

"Gibbs, how do we defend ourselves, what can we do? Move the debris out of the coves, perhaps?"

"That may be what we end up doing, Ziva. Let's pick this back up tomorrow when the sun is shining again, we'll all hike down and take a look. Mitas, you've been very quiet."

Mitas paused in his basting and looked over at the group. "I pray to God it's not wreckage from the Chimera, if it is, we should tow it somewhere and sink it, far away from here."

"That's not a bad idea either, Cory. We could camouflage it until Tim has the solar panels ready then tow it out and dump it. "

"Don't know about you all, but I really had hoped we'd seen the last of that damn boat and its secrets and spies."

"Think we all feel that way, Tony. Hey, are you going to give us our movie replay tonight?"

"Yeah, I am, I could start now if we still have some time before dinner?"

Mitas shook his head, "Actually I'm about two minutes away from serving."

"Oh well, then, food first, Anthony, I know we're all hungry." Tim had a very graphic flashback to the afternoon and turned away, gathering the plates and cutlery and noticing the coffeepot and teakettle.

"Uh, anyone want any more coffee, tea or hot water? Yeah, I know you want more, Boss I was thinking of Tony and me!" The group chuckled at his quip and relaxed a little bit. Mitas served the chicken with the potatoes and vegetables and they dug in. Tim put a bucket of water on the grill, it was his turn to wash and he could do them while Tony got started. That was easier than carrying dirty greasy plates downstairs.

After everyone was through eating and Tim had the dishes soaking for a bit, Tony got started.

"Ok, tonight I'm going to tell you about a cowboy movie, a famous one, it was nominated for best picture by the Academy Awards and won 4 Oscars. It's called "High Noon" and starred Gary Cooper, who won best actor, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly and Lloyd Bridges. It was released in 1952 and the story was about a marshal who had to face down an enemy and finds his own town won't help him, so…."

Gibbs smiled, as Tony continued. This was one of his favorite movies and he was looking forward to hearing Tony presenting it.

Nearly two hours later, DiNozzo finished with the last scene of the movie as he announced in a rather hoarse voice, "The End." He got a standing ovation from his audience who had listened intently as he spoke the plot and dialogue from memory, as if he had a script in front of him, painting vivid images of the characters, the action and the setting.

After the presentation, the group packed up everything they could in the storage tub Tim and Tony had brought up and then started downstairs, also carrying the chairs and their bench. The fire in the cooker was already dying embers as Gibbs tossed part of the dish water in to kill them completely. Once he was satisfied, he put the lid back on, making sure it was secure. Emptying the rest of the water nearby, he carried the empty bucket, one of the lanterns and one of the chairs; he was the last to leave the surface of the island. When he climbed down the stairs, he reached up and pulled their 'camo' bush over the entrance, glad the thing hadn't deserted them during the storm.

He found the common area deserted; the storage tub empty with its contents neatly put away. He smiled; that was his crew, taking care of everything. He put the chair in its place, the bucket with the others and then taking the lantern, turned it down low and headed to bed.

XXX

0500 found Gibbs up and already working at the table, on his third cup of coffee. He'd woken early, energized after his afternoon with Tim yesterday and now very motivated to get them home so they could start their new lives together. Yes, they'd still have to keep it under wraps, but they'd have more privacy than they did here. He snorted to himself, the bullpen offered more privacy than they had here! Still, they'd had three hours to themselves yesterday and they had used the time well.

In his gut, Gibbs knew _this_ was the day. This was the day they'd start work on their ship and their way home. They'd have to work on the debris -whatever they decided to do with it - along the way; there was no reason, no need to put this off any longer. They had the materials, the plan, the bodies; they needed to put them all together. He'd had a plan in his mind of how they would attack this, using much of his home boat-building experience. However, he'd realized over the last few days that he'd been thinking of himself as the builder and the others as 'helpers' of some kind. They'd never get the thing built that way; yes, he would oversee it and do a lot of the building, but the others would also build, he would teach them. They knew how important this was, they would give it their all as his team always did and he had no qualms about Mitas pitching right in, he already thought of him as part of his 'crew' rather than the 'team' which to him meant his NCIS team.

So now he mapped it out, at the same time revisiting Tony's idea of building a brand new ship, cannibalizing the other one for materials but not including it in the structure itself. As he thought it through, he decided against it. They had materials, yes, but they would be foolish to waste the assault craft. A boat or ship's infrastructure is built to hold the integrity of the overall structure, to provide the interior strength needed for the hulls. Including the assault craft as part of the vessel would provide the center of that whole.

That question answered, he pondered the steps they would need. Since their current craft would be essential, would be the core, that's where the building would start. They'd measure out the wood and first form the prow or forward section, with its various compartments for the animals, plants and storage, and then the aft section with more storage and the bunk rooms.

Once they had the outer and inner hulls built, they could build onto the middle deck, building the pilot's tower and the upper deck, including the frame for their cistern. The mast would be added on last. They'd likely have to move the ship out of the cavern over to the bay at that point. The mast would be affixed to the upper deck. He started outlining the steps for that and for the sail and then paused, realizing they really were going to have to sew their sail. Shaking his head he thought of what a giant pain in the ass that would be and hoped that Tim's solar panels would get them home without having to resort to sail.

He shook his head; they would need both methods to get home the fastest and safest way possible. He also made himself a note that they needed a flag, a US flag, one that they could fly as they reached American waters. Yeah, they'd be stopped but they would eventually be able to prove who they were, the not-dead-yet NCIS MCRT, Medical Examiner and Cory Mitas, honorary team member, friend and cook.

He looked up and smiled as the man appeared, dressed and ready to get breakfast going. Mitas looked at him, one eyebrow raised, a nearly perfect imitation of Tim and him, looking at the papers on the table, then back at Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded, "Today's the day."

"Want to tell us everything at breakfast or wait?"

"No more waiting."

"Ok, breakfast it is!"

At breakfast, Mitas banged on the saucepan with his wooden spoon and the others looked at him, confused. He nodded toward Gibbs who quietly stated that today was the day they were starting construction on their boat. After the hubbub died down, he continued, telling them from now on, unless there was an emergency, their daily lives were going to revolve around building the ship.

He estimated eight to ten weeks for the entire project, including the sewing of the sails, the raising of the mast and most importantly, the building of Tim's solar powered system for the boat. Today was November 8th, their 10th day away from home; ten weeks would find them leaving the island on their ship in mid January. Tim had earlier postulated the actual voyage home would be somewhere between two and three weeks. Gibbs reminded them that had been an estimate.

He saw some puzzled looks and guessed they were thinking about what seemed a long time to build their ship for a relatively short voyage home. He reminded them this was not flying or driving. It was up to them to build the vessel that would keep them safe and get them home.

While it was possible they would be rescued en route, they couldn't count on that and needed to make sure they had water, food and shelter for the entire voyage. Or, they could just convert the assault craft to solar power and go. Putting that out there, he saw the wheels spinning.

Nearly two days on that boat, bouncing on the waves in good weather, had been tolerable, but it wasn't built for the long run. Two to three weeks during winter on the Atlantic, not a good idea. They tossed the idea around, could they do it, was the assault craft big enough?

Having just experienced the misery of an early winter storm in the relative comfort of their cavern on a stable island was the tipping point for that discussion. Gibbs asked for a show of hands and the assault craft as their sole vessel lost unanimously; it seemed its fate was to be assimilated into the Ark or whatever name they decided to call the new ship.

Having settled that, Gibbs outlined his plan for the vessel, the pieces that needed to be assembled and attached. The end result would be a 60 foot ship with three decks and the pilot's tower. Gibbs had forgotten that not everyone had been around when Tim had proposed they build a frame onboard for the hot tub's continued use as a cistern. Now, when the older man outlined the frame to be built on the main deck for the cistern, Tony gave a loud cheer. Ducky patted the younger man's arm, advising him that it would still be a cistern.

Gibbs then switched to his plan for that day and gave each member assignments. He knew Tim would need some time to work on the ATV charger; that was to be his first prototype for the ship's solar powered system, the assault craft would be the actual model and so he added those onto the assignments. That way everyone understood that Tim's work was as essential as hammering nails into planks for the hull.

However, the first task that day was to travel to the cove and inspect the newly arrived metal pieces. While their fear had been that they were from the Chimera, Gibbs now thought they could be put to good use. It was possible there were pieces big enough to use as part of the hull plating. If not, there were the various car doors and parts that had been spotted in their previous coving.

Dividing up the group, Gibbs described the size and shape of the pieces they'd need. Ziva and Tim were excluded from the coving group in favor of beginning their work on the ATV/prototype for the ship charger.

Once the coving group had dispersed up the stairs, promising to water the garden pots as they passed, Tim hauled another storage tub, filled with larger components, over to the workbench. This time they covered the entire 'bench' with the components needed as Tim drew out the design, showing Ziva his plan.

It was still basically simple although of course on a larger scale. The addition of a combustion engine to be charged led to some changes from their previous chargers. Tim had already modified one of the solar panels for their use and now the two got to work. One of the tools they would need was a soldering iron and Tim, ever the geek, remembered watching a video on YouTube on how to make a homemade one. With a little improvising, they were successful and found they could use the water pump adaptor to charge it. They took the now multipurpose 'laptop' charger up top and set it up in the garden enclosure.

Tim was happy to see the pots had indeed been watered and then he suddenly gave a loud exclamation. Ziva, startled, nearly pulled her weapon, looking around for invaders.

"Sorry, Zi, I just realized it's been three days, I can make butter from the separated cream today."

Ziva shook her head, "I do not know what we would do without you and Gibbs."

"C'mon Ziva, it's just butter and Robinson Crusoe did fine without butter, chargers and soldering irons! A lot of what's been done has just been common sense and folk knowledge – or farm knowledge I guess. How people did things for thousands of years before the computer age came along."

Ziva rolled her eyes at him but smiled as she changed the subject. "Are you reading tonight, Mr. Gemcity?"

"Yes, however, it will be Mr. Zubin Cai reading, not Mr. Gemcity."

Ziva gasped, "Zubin Cai? You are Zubin Cai?"

"Yes, it's a penname I used before I met you all, so none of you are involved."

"Timothy…"

"It's ok, Ziva, let's not start that again. Gibbs has a bookseller at home who knows of his interest in Gemcity and somehow this bookseller found out about Zubin Cai and ordered one of the books for him. He got it the day we got the call out for the Chimera, so stuck it in his go bag."

"No, what I was going to say is that I have read all the Zubin Cai books I could find. The first one was Tali's favorite; she was reading it when she was killed. I made it my mission to acquire the rest of them and I have them still."

Tim swallowed hard at the mention of Tali and the realization of the link with Ziva and her family years before they'd met.

"How old were you when the first one was written, Tim?"

"Uh well, let's just say my grandmother had to sign the contract with the publisher."

"And why did you give up the name, ah, I have just realized the meaning! Zubin means honoring god or exalted one and Cai is a legendary god, Celtic I believe. Zubin Cai means the same as Timothy, honoring God."

"More or less, Ziva, it was the closest I could get and have a decent sounding name."

"That's very clever. You still have not said why you gave up the name."

"Zubin's books were from my youth, Ziva, I had a different outlook. After I lost Joey, you know about him, don't you? I mean who he really was to me?"

At her nod, he continued, "After I lost Joey and the others, I put away everything from the time they were in my life. Joey, Steve and Akio were part of Zubin Cai's books. Joey was in each one that I wrote after I met him at Johns Hopkins and the other two jumped in when we met them at MIT. They were characters and also contributed ideas to the plots. After they died, I needed to write; I think writing and work is how I survived, but I couldn't bear to continue the name without them."

"So you changed your penname and then added us as characters because you had always done it."

"Yes, it was automatic with me, I never considered…well, you know."

"Yes, but it has a different meaning to me now, Tim." She paused in thought. "Do the others know about Joey?"

"Ducky and Gibbs know the truth. Tony knows he was my best friend but not that we were lovers. I don't know what Mitas knows."

"I think tonight, if you are able, you might want to point out who the characters really are and tell them what you just told me. You do not have to mention your relationship with Joey, that is your private business, but to know now that you did that in earlier books and just continued on, that is…oddly satisfying Tim."

"I don't understand."

"Joey, Steve and Akio will live forever in your books and so will we. So even if Abby, Jimmy and the others now think we are lost, they would have us in your Deep Six books to comfort them. It is a bit of immortality, I had not considered that before."

Tim bit his lip, trying to stifle his emotions at this; he had tried so hard not to think about his grandmother, sister and friends mourning him.

"I am sorry, my friend, I know. I know the grief they're feeling, we have both felt that ourselves and to have our loved ones feel that way unnecessarily is beyond reason. We will be home soon; take comfort from that and their grief will soon be overcome with joy."

Tim nodded, still trying to deal with the lump in his throat. Finally when he trusted his voice again, he spoke, "It's a good idea, Ziva, to tell them that, but I think I'll do it after I've read, maybe even after I've finished the book."

"As you say, Timothy." With that, Tim set his watch alarm for three and a half hours, since they had been chatting for 30 minutes and they went below to do what work they could before the soldering iron was available for use.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Day Ten: Flotsam and Jetsam

The coving group stopped at the cistern so Tony could fill the jar he'd brought with him. They made their way up the path to the little garden enclosure, waiting while Tony carefully watered each pot. Watching, Mitas asked, "How long before the seeds turn into plants?"

The other men chuckled and Tony answered, "As I remember, about ten days for a lot of plants, I'm sure some will be less and others take longer."

Gibbs added with his dry wit, "That olive pit, for example, might take quite a bit longer." The others laughed, understanding the unlikely event of an olive tree emerging from an over-processed canned olive pit.

They walked back down the path, passing the cistern again and Tony left the jar at the base of the tub, for use the following day. They realized they'd forgotten the ATV and then thought to leave it for Tim and Ziva, however Gibbs pointed out the new charger would need at least three hours before it could be tested. Mitas pointed out Tony would be hungry within that timeframe, so there was no danger of messing up Tim's testing. Tony was the first to laugh; his appetite had certainly increased, even for him. He had decided it was Mitas' cooking after years of takeout and candy bars from the break room. Pointing that out, Gibbs looked thoughtful.

"Got a point there, DiNozzo, except for Ducky and maybe Mitas, we're probably all going home healthier than we normally are."

Mitas looked puzzled and Tony explained, "Do you remember asking about wearing the knives all the time?"

"Yeah, I asked if you wore them outside of work."

"And Tim said?"

"He said…Oh, he said you were almost always at work. That goes for food then too?"

"Yep, we eat pizza, Chinese or deli for lunch usually, when we get a lunch break, sometimes it's whatever is in the vending machines in the break room and that's usually what dinner is too."

"Wow, so this is almost like a vacation to you guys, huh?" Gibbs laughed with the others, but held up his hand as if he were going to administer a headslap, as Cory ducked.

"From a health standpoint, young Cory, that's true. They're not chasing down miscreants and spending hours at their desks calling leads and writing reports. The fresh air, your wonderful cooking and the regular exercise is doing wonders for all of us."

"So it's true about cops eating donuts?"

Tony looked at him seriously, "Mitas, if it weren't for donuts and coffee, cops wouldn't get any food at all." With that, they split at the main path, Ducky and Gibbs went back to get the ATV and the two younger men headed south to the trailhead for the first cove.

Tony chuckled to himself as they hiked down the path and when Mitas asked he said, "I was just thinking we haven't named the coves or the bay. That's not like us."

"I think of the bay as Traitor's Bay or Dead Man's Bay."

Tony shuddered, "I think Dead Man's Bay is a little easier to live with, plus there were two there, well one already dead, one future dead guy. "

"Think we'll ever get back to that skeleton?"

"Don't know, doesn't look like it right now, but Gibbs and Ducky are not likely to leave here without burying it."

"Ok, so what about the coves?"

"Well, the north cove is…the north cove. I don't know, you have any ideas?"

"This one could be Treasure Cove."

"Ok and the other one?"

"Tsunami cove?"

"No, can't do that, Mitas. Found out that Tim lost his best friend and two other close friends in the 2004 tsunami, he's had a tough time finding some of the stuff that was obviously from that."

"Oh God, Tony, that's awful, I hadn't realized. That's what…that's what upset him the other morning then, when Gibbs went after him."

"Yeah, Tim told me a little bit about it later."

"Ok, how about this…you know you guys have used the word flotsam to describe the debris, I've also heard the word jetsam used with flotsam."

"Oh very good, so this cove is "Flotsam Cove" and the second one is "Jetsam Cove"?"

"Yeah." The two exchanged high fives as they reached the bottom of the trail.

XXX

Gibbs smirked at his old friend as Ducky hopped into the driver's seat of the ATV. He climbed on the back and held onto the doctor's shoulder. Puzzled when nothing happened, he looked down to see the man peering up at him. "Jethro, we haven't had any time alone and I have questions for you."

"About?"

"Timothy."

"He's fine, Duck."

"I'm not worried, just…be careful with him, Jethro, I won't see him hurt."

"No need to worry."

"Well, then I will withhold my questions until we reach home."

"Good idea." Gibbs wondered just exactly what the Doctor was thinking and what his questions were, but decided not to drive himself crazy worrying about it. He wasn't worried about Ducky figuring them out, he was the definition of discretion, but he also wouldn't assume that's what the man was referring to. It could just be the fact that he was actually finally getting to know the young man.

The ATV moved forward toward the trailhead of the first cove. Once they got there, Ducky turned it around so it was again facing the entrance, easier than turning an ATV with a fully loaded cart. Gibbs gently patted Ducky's shoulder and the two grabbed their packs from the cart and hiked down to join the two younger men.

"Hi Ducky, hi Boss! Hey, we named the coves, see what you think."

"Well, what are they Anthony, Cory?"

"This one is Flotsam Cove and the other is Jetsam Cove."

"Nicely done! What of the bay?"

"Dead Man's Bay."

Ducky gave an involuntary shudder. "Yes, I suppose there's no getting around that."

Gibbs gave them a smirk and a nod of approval. "All right, you three, show me the new arrivals."

He spotted them as the words left his mouth. Dingy scraped raw metal pieces, mostly too jagged and small to be of any use. There was no doubt in his mind these were from the Chimera, unless another gunmetal gray ship had been destroyed nearby recently.

"Don't bother with the smaller pieces, no need to risk getting cut. Just look for the size and shape I told you about – and don't fish them out without wearing your gloves."

A second pair of leather gloves had surfaced during one of their coving expeditions, Ducky had those. The other two wore disposable gloves covered by McGee's gardening gloves. If they were careful, those would save their hands from nasty cuts and possible infection.

The four men searched among the flotsam for the metal pieces scattered throughout. It was Mitas who found the first useful piece, "Gibbs, got something over here."

"All right, hang on." The four congregated and Gibbs nodded, "Nice work, Mitas, that'll do for a piece of hull plating. If we could find several more of those, that'd be great."

He turned to Ducky and Tony, "I think we can lift this piece, you two head towards shore and we'll hand it off to you. Leave it in the sand to dry off a bit before we haul it uphill." The metal was transferred from water to dry sand with minimal effort and the search resumed. Ducky found the next piece and they followed the same procedure. Gibbs and Tony found three more pieces between them. There was no longer any doubt these had once been the Chimera, on one piece they could still see faint lettering "…ime…". Mitas took a break when they spotted the lettering and Ducky went with him, carrying two bottles of water.

While the two men stood in the shade, Gibbs and Tony continued with grim faces. "Boss, you sure this is a good idea to use these pieces? Do we really need them?"

"They'll provide more strength, DiNozzo, but you know, if we can find one the same size as that one, " Gibbs pointed to the one with the lettering, "we could drag that one out to sea somewhere, let it rest without haunting anyone."

That gave them renewed purpose and within minutes they'd found three more pieces each of which equaled the lettered piece. As Ducky and Mitas returned to the flotsam field, Gibbs and Tony carefully walked over as much of the debris as possible, dragging the lettered piece through the water. When they had reached the point where they couldn't go any further, they let the piece go and then dumped the heaviest nearby items they could handle on top of it.

On their return trip, hopping from piece to piece, Tony paused, "Boss, come look at this!" Gibbs, balancing precariously, joined him and peered into the water. Grinning, he turned and gave his Senior a clout on the back, "Great find DiNozzo, that's just what we needed!"

Calling out to Mitas and Ducky to bring rope, he took the ever handy broom handle and started to steer the find toward the shore. Mitas took the ATV, calling Ziva on the WT and she met him at the top of the staircase with the canvas bag of rope. He hopped back on the ATV and was back at the cove in a couple of minutes.

He found Tony and Ducky perched on the edge of a metal box in the water, while Gibbs stood nearby in the water. Pushing the object with the broom handle worked until they hit shallow water, now they'd need the rope to pull it to shore. Mitas smiled as he waded into the water with a couple of long pieces of rope. All this water and he hadn't had a swim in days.

They made two loops around the object and then paired up and hauled it out of the muddy bottom of the shallow water and up onto the shore. The others were pleased, Gibbs was happy. The object was a square section of decking complete with a hatch cover and all of its components. This would be installed as the access hatch between the living quarters and the Pilot's Tower. Now the pilots would be able to get in and out of the Tower without having to cross the main deck in all kinds of weather. Once they had the thing on the beach, they took a break and then tackled moving it up the trail to the surface of the island.

That took all four of them and Ducky ordered another break once they'd gotten it up the path and tied onto the cart. Mitas wondered why they needed another break; DiNozzo needed water, not minding a break for the older guys, yup, he didn't need it; Gibbs was grateful for Ducky's order as he sipped from a bottle of water and Ducky just plopped down in the shade and drank an entire bottle of water.

Mitas waited until he figured DiNozzo had had enough of a rest. "Tony, let's go back down, see what else we can find." DiNozzo nodded, turning to the two elders of the group, "You guys coming back down to the cove?"

Ducky shook his head, "No Anthony, Cory, I believe I'll ask Jethro to show me how to find eggs and milk the nanny goat this afternoon, thank you anyway." After the two younger men disappeared down the trailhead, Jethro leaned against the palm tree and slid down to sit next to Ducky. "Thanks Duck."

"No need to thank me, Jethro, you realize one of us has to go downstairs for the milk jar?"

"Nope, we don't." Smirking, Jethro took out his walkie-talkie and called Tim. "Hey kiddo, the four of us just dragged your new hatch cover for the pilot's tower up from the cove and Ducky's feeling pretty tired. We thought the two of us would go milk Nanny, but we didn't bring the jar up." He paused, listening, "Thanks Tim." He disconnected and nodded, "he'll be right up with it; he wants to see the hatch cover."

"If I had any doubt about the existence of 'things' before, Jethro, I don't anymore."

"Duck, I'm not taking advantage, I promise."

"No I don't believe you are; aside from the mess with Anthony and Ziva the other night, Tim has seemed quite happy – after his meltdown, that is. However, your track record, Jethro…"

"I know, he knows, we hadn't intended to start anything here, tried to wait until we get home, but…hell, Duck, I wanted him to know he's loved."

"And I do know that, Jethro and the same goes for you. Here's the jar, Ducky, please don't worry about me or us, we'll work things out, I'm good at that. Just remember I'm not a redhead!"

In order to sit fully in the shade, both older men were sitting with their backs to the rest of the island. Tim had spotted them immediately although he hadn't meant to sneak up on them.

Ducky reached up and put his hand on Tim's arm, "Forgive a concerned friend for prying, lad?"

"Of course. And you'll support us, Ducky? I mean, when we do let the others know sometime in the future."

"Yes, of course."

Gibbs looked up at his young lover and wondered what the hell he was getting them both into. Tim saw the look, interpreted it correctly and sat down next to his man, taking his hand with a happy smile. "Love is love, Jethro, whatever the age." Jethro grinned back at him and squeezed his hand, wanting to kiss him but reluctant to stretch Ducky's support that far. Not yet, anyway. Tim rose and then seeing Ducky starting to move to get up, reached over and helped him stand up. "Ah, thanks Timothy, hauling that up the hill was good for these old bones, but I fear that's enough cardio for the day!"

Tim shook his head, "You should have called us; we would have helped."

Jethro snorted, "Next time, I will. That piece of deck and the hatch cover must weigh close to two hundred pounds."

"Who found it?"

"DiNozzo."

"Good! Where are those two now, they go back down or to the other cove?"

"Back down to the first one."

"They've named the coves and the bay, Timothy. Mitas came up with the names. The first cove is 'Flotsam Cove', the second one 'Jetsam Cove' and the bay is 'Dead Man's Bay'."

"Flotsam and Jetsam, that's pretty clever. And the bay is spot on." Tim shuddered, "Hope we don't have any more dead bodies."

As he spoke, Gibbs WT squawked. "Yeah."

"Found a heavy metal door, Boss, can we use that?"

"Yeah, DiNozzo, we can use that for the main deck. McGee's up top with us, we'll be right down."

As he disconnected, he pointed to Ducky, "Stay Duck, we can handle this."

"Jethro, you shouldn't…"

"Don't worry, Ducky, we'll spread the load or, we can always leave it til tomorrow." Gibbs looked thoughtful at that, they would have to carry both the hatch and the door down the staircase, "you know, you might have something there, Tim, now I wish we'd left that hatch in the cove, we could have towed it around to the cavern."

"Will the door be needed right away, Jethro?"

"No, one of the last things." "

"So we could get it up to the beach and move it under the trees or cover it, then when we move the ship over to the bay for the mast we could retrieve it."

"Yeah, that'll work. Ok, let's go tell the others."

Relieved, Ducky winked at Tim as they left, leaving him with a WT and the milk jug, sitting down again under the palm tree.

By the time Gibbs and McGee had reached the cove, Gibbs had decided they shouldn't move the door at all, but as they rounded the last curve of the trailhead, they saw that DiNozzo and Mitas were a step ahead of them. The door was sitting on the sand, dripping seawater.

"Good job, guys. What we're thinking is that we don't need this until the very end of the building process, it can wait until we're ready to attach the mast."

"So we're going to leave it here on the beach, Gibbs?"

"Yeah, Mitas, and we're going to cover it up well, give it some camouflage, maybe partially bury it. You guys did all the heavy work already, grab some water and take a break. Tim and I will get the shovel and get to work."

He looked around, just in time to see his…agent, they're at work damn it, hiking back up the trail. Smirking, he started looking for camouflage material that would not blow away. Glancing a bit to the north, he spotted the remains of another rowboat and dragged it over, thinking it would make a perfect cover for their door, the size was just about right and it would be unlikely to blow off in the wind.

By the time he'd done that, Tim had returned with the shovel and they quickly dug a shallow door sized hole in the sand, manhandled the door down into it, shoveled sand back over it, then dragged the dilapidated rowboat over the whole thing. Gibbs was grateful when Mitas called down that he and Tony were heading downstairs to fix lunch. He needed more than a break this time, he needed a rest.

A thought struck him and he looked at Tim, "How come your watch alarm hasn't gone off, hasn't it been three hours?"

"Just about, but this charger is bigger, Jethro, it needs more time to charge. One more hour should do it."

"So after lunch?"

"Yup, and I still need to work on the battery of the ATV to convert it, so the charger will be ready, but we won't be testing for a couple of hours afterward."

"Get a lot of stuff done this morning?"

"Yeah, we built a lot of the components we'll need for the ship. Once everything is in place with the ATV, I'll want to see how long that charge holds, how long we can run it."

"How you going to do that?"

"I guess by driving it up and down the island for as long as it runs." Tim laughed, "Maybe we can time the drives, see who has the best time, call it the 'The Rock's First and Only American All-Star Race'! "

"Better handicap Ziva."

"And you, Jethro, you're almost as bad." Gibbs grinned at Tim's cheeky remark and ruffled his hair. "So how did Ducky find out, he guessed, didn't he?"

"Yup, said it wasn't anything obvious, he just knows the two of us very well."

"We'll have to stay away from Abby then, when we get back. Or rather we'll have to not be together around Abby."

"That's more like it. Doubt we'll be able to stay away from her."

Tim laughed, "No, you've got that right!" Jethro looked at that laughing mouth and leaned in for a quick kiss. Which wasn't very quick because Tim kissed him back and then…the WT squawked. Gibbs was probably the most abrupt he'd ever been, "**_What?_**"

"Lunch is ready, you two joining us?"

"Yeah DiNozzo, we're on our way."

The two lovers looked at each and laughed, reaching up and cleaning their faces up a bit.

"I'm gonna start working on that damn boat at night too, need to get you home."

"Yeah, hurry that up, will you?" That elicited a laugh and a pat on Tim's backside. Still chuckling, the two men hiked up the trail side by side, brushing into each other every so often. Ducky was not there when they reached the palm tree; Tim called down on the WT to make sure he was in the cavern and not off milking the nanny by himself. He was already at the table and there were loud voices encouraging them to hurry the hell up, so the two scrambled down the stairs and into the common area.

"There you are!" exclaimed Ziva, "Tim went upstairs with the milk jug and never came back."

"Sorry Ziva, sort of a 'one thing led to another' situation. Did they tell you about the hatch cover and the door?"

"Yes, and those are wonderful things for our boat. And now we will eat wonderful things for our tummies, yes?"

"Yes Zeever."

"Yes Ziva."

It seemed that when Mitas and Tony left the cove to start lunch, they encountered Ducky under the palm tree with the milk jug. After they woke the older man, the three of them detoured to the goats' lair to find and milk Nanny. She was more cooperative today and gave them a whole jar of milk. While they were doing that, Ziva was downstairs completing the last task Tim had given her. When she noticed the time, she decided to start lunch. Halfway through her preparations, Ducky, Mitas and DiNozzo returned with the milk and Ziva remembered today was butter day.

Taking the full milk jar, an empty jar and lid plus a shallow dish, she and Ducky took the raft to the boat. Retrieving the separated cream, they carefully scooped it into the empty jar, setting both it and the rest of the milk aside for the moment. As they set up another dish of milk to separate, they noticed there was already one in the fridge.

Checking the door, they found that Mitas and Tim had placed it there three days ago, so they would have fresh butter and cream again the next day. Carefully marking the chart on the door with the date, time and their initials, they placed their milk with cream in the tiny fridge. They poured the rest of the milk into the milk jug and then took the jar of separated cream back across the water with them. When Tim returned, he could have the fun of shaking it, since it had been his idea in the first place.

McGee and Gibbs arrived downstairs just as Ziva and Ducky docked the raft. After they greeted each other and before they sat down, Ziva handed the jar of separated cream to Tim. He had momentarily forgotten about it but now it made sense that Mitas had made 'skillet corn bread'. Remembering he was supposed to be churning the cream to make butter, he started shaking the jar with the group watching him hungrily. Eventually, the cream formed a big lump and Ducky and Gibbs both proclaimed it butter.

It didn't look anything like the butter or margarine they were used to, but the taste was heavenly! They ate well that lunchtime and Gibbs had to restrain himself and DiNozzo from eating every last bit of the butter. Wisely, none of the others mentioned the batch that would be butter-worthy the next day.

After lunch and cleanup, handled by Gibbs, the group rested for a few minutes then reconvened to bring the hatch apparatus down the stairs and then start work on the boat. Gibbs shook his head, they were already behind a half a day and they hadn't even started. Still, they would have a better craft with that hatch, the deck plating and the metal door buried in the cove.

All six of them ganged up on the hatch and plating; using the now familiar net approach with guide ropes on upper and lower ends, they had the whole thing bumping carefully down the stairs in no time. Once there, they dragged it, burning off the butter and corn bread, through the passageway to the corner of the cavern where the boat materials were stored. That task accomplished, they set out to do their first scheduled boat building tasks. Tim and Ziva disappeared upstairs with the components they needed to convert the ATV battery to solar power, promising to let them know when testing could take place. Gibbs had asked if it were possible to delay the battery endurance test until morning as he felt it important to do some physical work toward the new prow this afternoon. Tim had readily agreed; that would give Ziva and him time to put the conversion together, do their own quick test and handle any problems that might pop up.

Tomorrow was soon enough for the endurance run, he'd announce it tonight at dinner. Gibbs had decided driving in their First and Only American All-Star Race would be an earned privilege, each driver would have had to first successfully complete one or two assigned boat building tasks. Of course, if any of them did not qualify, Tim and Ziva, as the solar team, would be forced to drive the ATV all day themselves. Tim had set a few milestones for the endurance drive: 4 hours, 8 hours and so forth. He believed once they got beyond 8 hours for the run life of the charged battery, they would be ready to move onto the assault craft and its battery.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

Day Eleven: Zubin Cai

As they approached the boat building materials, DiNozzo started to feel excited, these raw planks of wood, scrap metal and various doohickeys collected by his boss were going to be their way home. While he was not unhappy on the island, excepting his recent problems, he missed home. He missed Abby, Jimmy and even the Director. He missed having a job to do. He liked what they were doing, it felt good to find useful things and to have contributed something to the general welfare, and he got a kick out of gathering eggs and milking the nanny, but he was not a farm boy, he liked being an investigator and he missed that buzz.

The work they'd done around the Chief Rogers arrest, death and bombing had been all too brief. Not that he was looking for any trouble and certainly nothing like that. But he did miss the excitement of a new case, tracking down leads, chasing dirtbags and busting them in interrogation. He missed convenience, yes they had plenty to eat and drink but he'd kill (figuratively speaking) for a pizza, a beer, a soda and popcorn. He laughed cynically at himself; only he, Anthony DiNozzo, would miss junk food while dining on 3 delicious meals a day cooked to perfection. He also missed women, going to bars, meeting them, flirting with them, having sex with them, he missed the whole game. Yes, it had 'only' been 11 days, but his life, his _real_ life, seemed a million miles away and a thousand years ago. And something had happened to his team. Tim had gone from being the youngest and their computer geek, not always in the field with them and not generally close to Gibbs or vice versa, to being Gibbs' right hand man. He didn't mind, he was having a good time, but it was a little…odd.

McGee was a builder, even if he claimed he wasn't; Tony watched him put components together and the guy _knew_ what he was doing. And Ziva helping him, that was weird too, usually Ziva was more the shoot 'em up, chase 'em down type. He shrugged, he liked Mitas and they were having fun on the island, it was great getting to know Ducky better and the Boss had promised to teach him things, that was all good and now they were moving into production on the boat. That would focus all of them; provide a different structure than they'd had since they got here. He was grateful that Gibbs had provided that for him for years now: structure and focus.

Ducky faced the vast array of wood, metal and various and sundry other items Jethro had gathered and sighed. He had not mentioned it to the others, he was after all the one usually responsible for the morale of Gibbs' team, but this boat building seemed an insurmountable task to him. For the most part he was enjoying their life on the island, although he could have done without the whole Chief Rogers chain of events, but no matter how hard he worked not to, he worried about his ageing mother, his lover, his young assistant and their Abby. He felt half his family had been left behind and he hated that they were believed dead, in whatever fairytale manner the Director had chosen to cover the harsh reality of 'friendly fire'.

He was happy for Timothy to have found love again, that young man certainly deserved some happiness after his young life had been so cruelly disrupted. He was happy for Jethro, but he could not let go of his concern for the two of them. He saw they were discovering new commonalities and that was good, he just hoped it would be enough to center the relationship and keep it fresh for all the time they would have together. _Oh my, _he thought_, listen to me, I sound like the Grim Reaper! I mustn't let the others see me like this. And young Mitas, he does have his wits about him, he and Jethro will both see right through me. _

Straightening up, he approached the work bench, "Leftenant Donald Mallard reporting for duty, Master Ship Builder Gibbs."

"Welcome to the docks, Lieutenant Mallard, here's your assignment for the day; please see the quartermaster- that's Mitas - for your supplies."

Gibbs smirked at his old friend, responding to his attempt at humor, but he saw right through it to the man's worries and sorrows. He wouldn't call him on it now, Duck obviously wanted to get to work with the rest of them; he made a mental note to have a chat with him later. He happened to know the old coot had a flask of scotch with him and it might be time to break that out. If there was any left, that is! In the meantime, he had been very careful to draft assignments for Ducky that were crucial to their mission but not as physically strenuous as others might have been. If the man complained, he would throw something more demanding at him, but not today.

This first day, their tasks were to take measurements for the outer hull, sticking to the penciled outline of the ship and then measure the lumber. Gibbs would take them through the measuring; he needed to stress the absolute rule: Measure Twice, Cut Once. No shortcuts here, they couldn't risk it. Both DiNozzo and Ducky had helped him with his various boats on occasion and so were familiar with many of his boat building rules and techniques. He had been a little worried about Tim, but seeing his dexterity in building the chargers had eliminated that worry, the man could build; he just needed to transfer his geek skills to woodworking. Ziva would follow his lead and do what was necessary, she'd be fine. Mitas also would be fine, once he was taught a few things. He thought Cory and Ducky would make a good team. DiNozzo would work with him, not only because they were used to working that way but also as part of Gibbs' determination to maintain their father/son relationship.

The afternoon passed quickly, the measurements taken twice, double checked again and approved, followed by the first cuts being made for the outer hull of their ship. Each of the builders completed his or her assigned tasks and Gibbs who would not admit to a case of nerves watching the saw bite into their precious wood, was pleased with their work.

The Solar Team, using their new soldering iron, had completed the charger for the ATV and Tim had worked his magic on the battery, with Ziva's help. They ran their own tests and after making some minor corrections, were ready for the endurance test the following day.

When Tim and Ziva finished their work a little sooner than the ship builders, they decided to prepare dinner, using the fish caught the day before. Tim carefully watched Ziva, hoping to learn something as she filleted and seasoned the fish. After starting the fire, he cleaned the potatoes and wrapped them to bake, first checking on the supply of butter. He thought there was enough, but Tim decided to add the garlic and onions anyway. The butter would be an extra treat. While the potatoes baked in their jackets, Ziva took the cast iron skillet and started cooking the fish. She'd asked Tim to slice up the rest of the squash and he added that to the skillet along with a medley of other canned vegetables. When Ziva told him they were 15 minutes from serving, Tim took the saucepan and wooden spoon around to the building site, banging on it and announcing it was time to wash up. Tony and Mitas stripped down and took a quick swim in the cavern waters while Gibbs and Ducky hauled a bucket to the men's bathroom and washed up there.

Over dinner, Tim announced the endurance test the next day. Calling it "The Rock's First and Only American All-Star Race", he explained the purpose and the rules, including Gibbs' decision that each driver would have had to earn their slot. Happily, each one had completed their tasks successfully, so the test would begin in the morning. Tim and Ziva would take the first four hours; then pass it to the set of drivers and so on. Tony and Mitas were enthusiastic about the driving, even after Gibbs cautioned them this was not a speed race but an endurance test for the solar charged battery.

After dinner and cleanup, Gibbs brought out the Zubin Cai book from his go bag and handed it to Tim with a smile. The lanterns lit, coffee and tea poured, Tim waited until everyone had settled and then began reading the book aloud to his friends. He smiled as he read, remembering writing this one, how funny Joey and the others had found it to be cast as cowboys. The others relaxed, enjoying the story.

Gibbs knew he'd have to read it again for himself, he was so caught up in listening to Tim's voice he wasn't sure he was getting the whole story. He heard enough to know that the characters were well written and true to their human alter egos, realizing that the trio of young cowboys was in fact Tim's lover and their friends. He leaned forward, wanting to understand their characters; who they were to Tim, how they'd been written in his fiction.

Tony smiled, this was a great book and he really liked the characters, he could imagine how the movie would look and sound, he wondered who would be cast as the three geeks turned cowboys. He was puzzled though; he'd thought Tim was going to read one of his books this evening, that's what had set off that whole mess, but this wasn't anything like the Deep Six books. He'd never heard of Zubin Cai, thought he'd Google him when he had access to the internet, see if the writer had any books made into movies.

Mitas listened to the story, entertained by the author's wit and the unlikely trio of city boys, geeks really, as cowboys. He understood Tim had written this but he wasn't thinking about that, he was thinking of all the subtext and plots he was hearing. What a wonderfully crafted tale!

Ziva listened with her eyes closed, remembering Tali's thrill over finding this book at a bookstore in Tel Aviv. She felt now that she was meeting Joey, Steve and Akio. Catching Tim's eye at one point, she smiled and nodded, she was beginning to understand. Perhaps she would re-read the Deep Six books and learn more about her friend and his perception of them.

Ducky listened to Tim's steady voice and to the story although he too had read the Zubin Cai books years ago. Western novels were a secret passion of his and he had been thrilled when he'd discovered that their Timothy was indeed the author of one of his favorites. He looked around the group and saw the enthralled looks on Jethro and Cory's faces, although he was quite sure they were having very different reactions. Ziva seemed calm and contemplative and Tony was entertained, ah that was something. Tony liked the story being read to him.

Tim read several chapters, stopping as he read the last line of the sixth chapter. "Think that's all I can manage tonight, guys, voice is getting a bit hoarse."

"That was great, Probie, you're going to read some more of it tomorrow night, right?"

"Sure Tony, I can do that. You liked it, huh?"

"Oh yeah, it's a great story and I like the characters, almost feel like I know them personally."

Ducky cleared his throat, "Well, that is one of the hallmarks of a good author, Anthony, strong characterization. And Mr. Cai certainly excels in that."

The others chuckled while Tim flushed a little with Ducky's praise. Tony didn't notice as he was still casting the movie.

Before they went off to bed, Gibbs gave them a quick rundown on what they'd be doing the next day. While they would continue work on the hull, they'd also need to tackle the forward sections. Rather than attach the sections of new boat to old, they were essentially building around it, literally assimilating the assault craft into the larger vessel.

As Tony and Mitas walked toward their beds, Mitas remarked, "That's a great book of Tim's! I guess when you're talented it doesn't matter how old you are, huh?"

Tony, finally done mentally casting the movie, looked at him. "Huh?"

"Well, he was only 16 or 17 when he started writing the Zubin Cai books; Ziva told me the last one was published right after the tsunami that killed his friends, so he would have been, what, just past his mid-twenties? He'd been publishing for 10 years already! Guess it took him a couple of years after they died to regroup and change his penname to Gemcity. I'm sure that was rough, but I'm so glad he did. I love the Gemcity books."

Tony barely kept his jaw from dropping. Probie had written that book? Probie was not only Gemcity but this guy too? He deflected as only he could. "Yeah…Zubin Cai…that's a weird name, wonder what that means?"

"Gibbs told me it means basically the same thing as Timothy – honoring god. Cai is a Celtic god, so it's not the Christian god."

Tony was thinking hard and fast. That book, the one he'd just enjoyed listening to, was written by Tim and there were more apparently. His friend had been a published writer since his teens, a popular one it seemed. He wondered about something else Cory said and asked, "Why did you say it took him years to 'regroup'? Yeah, emotionally, that was awful and he was really sick afterwards, is that what you meant?"

"No man, well, in a way, but don't you see?"

Tony shook his head, "No, not following."

"Zubin Cai based his characters on his three friends. He told me they begged him to do it, they wrote something up asking him to include them, said he still has the paper, he printed it and made them sign it, said it was a running joke between them. So he did it. I guess the first books just included Joey, his best friend, and then later when he met the other two he went back and added them into whatever stories he could revise."

"They wanted to be included?"

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't be? I mean, that's so cool! And if there's a movie, someone is up on the screen, playing _you_. It can't get much cooler than that, DiNozzo!"

Tony said good night as they turned in. He had a lot to think about and one of them was the fact that Tim's friends, the ones who had been such a big part of his life, had assumed Tim would include them, wanted him to, asked him to. Could that be why Tim did that with the team in Deep Six? Then another thought struck him, the whole team was all in there. All of them; that had to mean something, Tim hadn't previously included his whole class or family…just those three. So including all of them must have meant something to Tim, maybe he'd meant it as a compliment? Or, reverting to his earlier thought, maybe after including his friends previously, he'd done it without thinking. Resolving to talk with his friend in the morning, Tony snuggled in and drifted off to sleep.

Trailing behind Mitas and Tony on her way to her bathroom, Ziva overheard their conversation. She smiled, Tim would be relieved to find out Tony now knew; although she was a bit surprised the older man had not figured it out for himself. Wrapping up in her blankets, she quickly fell asleep.

Tim sat with Ducky and Gibbs for a bit, trying to unwind from the reading. Finally, stretching, he bid them both good night and headed to his own bed.

Ducky smiled at Gibbs. "I know you weren't fooled by Leftenant Mallard, Jethro, I suppose I should thank you for indulging me in my charade."

"Not a problem, Duck, I just wish I could help. You know if you need to talk, my ears are always available to you."

"Yes, my friend, I do know that. I just don't know what to say."

Gibbs finished his coffee, "Maybe it's the collywobbles that are getting to you."

"My word, I haven't heard that since I was a boy! Yes, I suppose it could be, I've certainly not got a concrete reason, I'm just feeling…overwhelmed."

Gibbs chuckled, "Can't see why, Duck! Get called out to a black ops ship for a dead body that appears to have hemorrhagic fever and probably exposed all of us. Same dead sailor was really killed by a traitorous communications officer. Same black ops ship was boarded by pirates who were really Russian sailors. We sneak off the ship with our lives at stake, stealing the Russians' boat; oh did I mention the super secret nuclear warhead we brought with us? Minutes after we escape, our own Navy destroys the ship, not knowing we're no longer on it. And let's not forget poor Tim's seasickness, I know you were afraid we were going to lose him if it got worse, Duck. We finally find a place to roost, trying not to think about our families and friends believing we're dead and next thing we know, a wounded sailor shows up and he turns out to also be a traitor. He dies and manages to blow up part of our temporary home, also leaving behind another dead body for you to deal with. And now we're looking at building a 60 foot ship with hand tools and amateurs, for all of us to climb on and get home. And all of this in the last ten days. Nope, I can't for the life of me understand why you'd be overwhelmed, Doctor Mallard!"

As he'd hoped, his friend smiled, nodding. "You're right, Jethro, I should do as I always tell the others and 'cut myself some slack'."

"Yes, you should, that's an order, Doctor." Gibbs patted the man on the shoulder. "We're going to be all right, Duck, we're going to build this boat and get ourselves home. And I can't wait to see the look on Jen's face, how about you?"

"Yes, that will be quite an experience."

"You got any of that rotgut left in your flask?"

Ducky smiled, a brighter one this time, "Yes, I have enough for a wee tot for each of us." He reached into his pocket and drew out the flask as Gibbs shook out their empty coffee and tea cups. They sat and enjoyed their 'wee tot' for awhile, having more quiet conversation. Ducky finally rose, giving his friend a pat, "Thank you, Jethro, I think that's cleared those collywobbles!"

"Anytime, man, anytime!" Bidding him a good night, the good doctor went off to bed. Watching him, Gibbs saw that the doctor was holding his head high, his shoulders were again squared and he was walking with his usual confidence. Reassured, he banked the fire, carefully washed their cups and headed for bed after a long day.

* * *

A/N: Although Ducky pronounced it Leftenant, which is the correct pronunciation in the UK (and other parts of the world), the proper spelling is Lieutenant, the same spelling we use in the US.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three:

Second Week: The Rock's First and Only American All-Star Race

At 0500, Gibbs was awake and ready to get their day started. Yesterday Tim had asked him if he would participate in their endurance test for the ATV battery. _What did he call it? Oh yeah, "The Rock's First and Only American All-Star Race." _He'd said he'd think about it, now he realized he was really looking forward to it.

Yes, it would take time out from their boat building, but since this was actually part of the work for the boat it wasn't a problem. He'd ask Tim if he could go after the Solar Team, then he could be below most of the day, supervising and working. Maybe he and Duck could split one of the drives or something.

Heading for the men's room, he passed Mitas returning and exchanged their usual 'Good Morning' mumble. Cleaned up and ready for his coffee, Gibbs soon headed back to the coffeepot to find Tim there already.

Smiling, the younger man handed his lover a full mug. "Morning Boss! Woke up thinking about the endurance 'race', finally decided to just get up and get going. Have an idea."

"Would it be to split the drive, so no one is doing more than half the designated time?"

"Yeah, how'd you…oh, great minds think alike, huh?"

Mitas, stirring something new in a bowl, spoke up, "So each of us has a partner-driver, like that? "

"Yeah, let's say our second pair of drivers, after me and Ziva, are you and Tony," seeing the frown on Gibbs' face, he amended his lineup, "or Ducky and Boss. That pair can split a four hour run, however they want. One driver does two hours - or less if he wants a break – and then the other takes over and they trade back and forth until their four hours are covered. Or two pairs can trade off so no one gets too tired. I don't really care how it's broken up, as long as we get to a solid 12 hours or earlier if the charge runs out."

"Which we're doing in four hour increments."

"Yeah, because I want to try for twelve hours and there are six of us, so two hours each or four hours per pair. I know the charge will last six hours, I'm hoping for eight or nine and twelve would be awesome."

Mitas digested that information, then continued his questions as he put some of their precious fresh butter into his cast iron skillet and handed Tim their makeshift churn to make more butter. "So the ATV has to be running – never turned off – for 12 hours? And when the charge runs out, the engine will die, like it's out of gas?"

"Yeah. Twelve hours is the optimum, if it goes nine, I'll be very happy."

"That's one battery, right? So on the ship, we'll have multiple batteries, so we can go more than 9 or 12 hours, just have to switch over to another battery?"

"Yes, the system we'll build will automatically switch over to the next battery."

"And while the ship is running off a battery, will that battery also be re-charging?"

"Yeah, you've really got this down, Mitas! If you'd like and Gibbs can spare you, you could work with Ziva and me on the system for the ship."

Gibbs interjected, "Sounds good, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, guys. Mitas, are we having pancakes this morning? "

"Yup, pancakes and eggs. We've got butter; some powdered sugar and jam, thought that would be enough toppings for the pancakes. Going to melt the butter so there's more of it."

Gibbs and Tim both grinned and asked to help. While they were helping Mitas, Ziva joined them. By the time the eggs and the first of the pancakes were ready, Ducky and DiNozzo had joined them, not having needed the usual pot banging 'announcement' this morning. Both of their late sleepers had woken to the wonderful scent of pancakes.

After all six had their fill, Tim went over the "Rules of the Road". This wasn't exactly a speed race; it was specifically to test the battery. However, Gibbs had thought it would be fun to write down each driver's distance – how many laps of the island were completed – during that driver's run.

Whoever had the most laps would win a certificate that Tim had designed, he showed it to them on his laptop. Prominent was the name of the event, the date, location and photos of the course; from the top of the North Cove to the top of the Southern Beach, with loops around the cistern, the garden enclosure, the goats' lair and the palm trees. The certificate would be finalized and printed when they got somewhere with a printer.

Ziva had helped Tim draw out maps of the course and now they handed them out. The first four hours would be driven by Tim and Ziva, trading off when they needed a break. The following eight hours would be split between Ducky and Gibbs, Mitas and DiNozzo. That way only the pair driving would be diverted from the work on the boat. They were relying on the honor system for the drivers to log their number of laps. When the ATV quit running, they were to let Tim or Ziva know and mark down the time.

They all trooped upstairs to watch Tim take the first lap. Once he'd been around twice, Gibbs shooed the others downstairs to work, leaving Ziva to monitor the drive. More hull work would be done today; it would take the bulk of the next week to get everything prepared, assembled and to start the building. Gibbs was feeling more certain of the hulls now that they had enough metal pieces. Everyone got to work, having already been briefed on their goals and tasks for the day.

Tim's first hour went fairly quickly but as the weather warmed up, he noticed he wasn't paying as close attention to the laps as he should. The next time he approached Ziva, he stopped, without turning the engine off. "I need a break, Zee, getting island happy here."

"I will run it for two hours then, Tim and we can switch off again."

"Put your hat on and do you want sunglasses? The sun is pretty hot and bright today."

"Just the hat, thank you."

"Be careful, no speeding, we need you and all the chickens and the goats!"

Ziva gave him a royal wave as she sped off on the ATV. Tim grabbed his pack, pulled out a bottle of water, his notebook and pen and took her seat in the shade under the palm trees. He didn't get much writing done as Ziva was driving considerably faster than he had and he was marking her laps, as she'd marked his. He took a walk over to his small garden and saw the potato, onion and garlic sprouts were doing well; nothing else had poked its head above the dirt yet. Grabbing the shovel, he walked around the area and marked where he wanted the garden fencing. They would still need the big garden, even if only for a few short weeks.

Once he did that, still stopping to mark Ziva's laps, he shrugged his shoulders, went back to the shed and pulled out a pair of gardening gloves. Then he started digging post holes for the fencing support. Once he'd finished that, he wrote for a little bit, then went back for the shovel and a small bucket and walked around gathering chicken poop. When he had what he thought he needed, he started turning the soil over for the garden, working the manure in.

Ziva laughed at Tim's busy work while she sped by on the ATV. She was having a wonderful time, just driving like this felt so good. Slowing when she saw GG, Phyllis and Duke coming toward her, she kept the ATV at a slow chug so the youngsters could keep up with her. If she sped up a bit, they'd run, so they played that for a few minutes until she tired of the game. She considered stopping, hitching on the cart, and putting the kids in the box on the back, but she was afraid they'd jump out and harm themselves. Still, if she were very careful, it might be helpful for them. She was certain both nannies and the kids would be going home with them on the ship; riding on the cart might help them acclimatize to the ship's motion.

Laughing at herself, she finally stopped where they'd left the cart, attached it and loaded the three into the box, where they nuzzled down happily. When she started moving forward again, there were a few surprised bleats but when she looked behind her, the three had their heads over the top of the box, their ears blown back in the breeze. She called out to Tim as she went by, it looked like he was gathering chicken poop for the garden; she had noticed he'd been digging holes around it. He looked up, saw the kids and laughed so hard he felt his eyes watering. The next lap was Ziva's last, her two hours were up and the ATV was his for the next hour. Rather than remove the goats, he asked Ziva to do another lap while he ran down to get the camera; he had to get a shot of this.

First marking the time for the completion of Ziva's two hours, he dashed downstairs, waved hello at the work group, grabbed the camera and ran back up again. He was just in time for the end of Ziva's 'extra' lap and he got a couple of great shots. They traded drivers and he spent the next hour entertaining the kids, driving them around the laps, knowing Ziva was capturing him in the lens. When he finally rolled to a stop, Gibbs and Ducky had joined Ziva and all three were enjoying the spectacle of the kids on the cart being driven by the human; that is Ducky was. Gibbs was enjoying watching Tim and oh yeah, there were goats around too.

Slowing to a stop, the young man smiled warmly and hopped off the driver's seat.

"Ok, who's first?"

"I'll go first, Timothy, Jethro wants to inspect your work on your garden." Gibbs took the clipboard and marked Ducky's start time as he rolled slowly away, the kids' heads still propped on the edge of the box, looking southward. Ziva already had her assignment in hand for the rest of the day, so after she took a photo of Ducky she left to go downstairs to start her ship building tasks. Tim stayed up top to have a precious private moment with his lover. Knowing they were out of Ducky's sight for the moment, he leaned in and kissed the older man like a starving man finding steak. Gibbs was just as hungry and the two of them enjoyed their connection for all too short a time before they heard the ATV in the distance.

"Come on, show me what's next on the garden plot; then you'll need to get your sexy butt downstairs." Tim showed him what he'd done and mentioned the fence posts, then waited until Ducky had made his loop and continued north. When he turned to head downstairs, he got a tender pat on his backside as he walked away.

Joining the guys and Ziva downstairs, he took a look at what they were doing and then following Tony's instructions, got to work. The work wasn't hard, at this point it was rather piecemeal, but there was a lot of it to do. He was glad when Tony took a look at his work and made a minor correction before he got too far in the wrong direction. Focusing on his work, he was surprised when Mitas banged the pan announcing lunch. Since Gibbs and Ducky were only halfway through their drive test, Mitas had cooked enough lunch for the builders and Ducky or Gibbs would cook their own lunches when they finished.

Two hours later, Ducky called Mitas and Tony up top while Gibbs finished his stint. Tim was nervous for the next hour, the ninth hour was a big milestone for the charger, if it made it past that; he would mark the test a success. Going beyond those nine hours would be icing on the cake. Gibbs, joining them after he and Ducky ate, noticed Tim's nervousness. Looking at his watch, he realized this was a crucial time and he looked a question at him. Tim shook his head, he needed to continue working, it wasn't fair to the others and the ATV would not stop or go based on his presence. Proud of his man on a personal and professional level, Gibbs smiled to himself and got back to work. Tim took a break half an hour later and called the WT the teams had been using all day. Tony answered, "Hey McCharger, it's still going strong, Mitas has just under 30 minutes to go and then it's my turn."

"Thanks Tony, I couldn't stand not knowing."

"As far as I can see, it's keeping up the speed fine; he's going a little faster now, the kids wanted out."

"They probably got hungry."

"Uh, yeah and that box needs to be tossed, they're not box trained, you know."

"Good thing we've still got a few dozen boxes to use!"

"Yeah, I'll grab one from one of the coves before we tuck the ATV away for the night. You coming up for my last lap?"

Tim jerked as his shoulder was tapped rather smartly.

"Uh, yeah Boss. Gotta go Tony, see you then." He got back to work, a bit embarrassed. At least he hadn't had rated a headslap, although he probably should have. Sighing, he'd have to mention that to Gibbs.

He worked steadily and looking around was happy to see the progress their group had made in just a little time. Especially with having a fractured work force today. His WT squawked and he looked at his boss. He got a double nod, so tapping Ziva on the shoulder, he motioned to her and the two of them headed back up top.

Ducky laughed at his friend after the two agents left. "You should see the look on your face, Jethro, so woebegone! I would think this test running the full time is a cause for a group celebration, certainly a break is in order?"

Gibbs grinned at him, "Yeah, hot shot, let's go, who do you think won?"

"Me, of course!"

Chuckling, the two headed for the stairs just a couple of minutes behind the others. When they emerged into daylight, he saw Tony was just completing his last lap. As he came to a stop in front of the others, Tony asked Tim if he should shut off the ATV.

Gibbs answered for him. "No DiNozzo, leave it on. Tim, Ziva, congratulations, this is great news! Twelve hours means you can start work on the ship's system, right – and test it on the assault craft? "

Tim nodded with a big grin.

"Well, then I think you two should take a victory lap, uh, Ziva, better let Tim drive. Who's got the camera?"

Mitas had it so he took a few shots of the 'victory lap', with the three kids back in the picture, trotting after them. After the one lap, Tim returned the ATV to its customary spot close to the entrance and resolutely turned it off, surprised by the applause from the rest of the group. Grinning, he sketched a quick bow and then grabbed the clipboard. "And now for the conclusion of today's test, the winning driver is…Mitas! Congratulations, man!" Mitas laughed, accepting the thumps on his back in good humor.

After dinner, Tim read five more chapters of Gibbs' Zubin Cai book. He stopped early as he saw just about everyone looked beat. First Ziva, then Mitas, Tony and Ducky said goodnight and wandered off. Tim looked at Gibbs and then signed to him, asking if he wanted to go look at the stars. He was thinking of that first night on the boat when they waited to see the constellations. Gibbs nodded, they banked the fire, grabbed some blankets, a WT and one of their flashlights, heading upstairs. Ducky was still awake so knew where they were. Which, Gibbs figured meant they couldn't get too carried away, he'd promised the man they wouldn't.

The surface of the island was set aglow by unimaginable starlight. They didn't have to crane their necks, all they had to do was look south, north, east and west and they were covered in stars. They walked a bit south, not wanting their voices to be heard downstairs on this quiet night, and laid the blanket down in the middle of the path, with no obstacles in their way. Lying down, with Tim's head on Jethro's chest, they identified constellations and night objects.

Jethro was running his hand through Tim's silky hair and Tim was trying not to purr. He went to pull Jethro's head down to kiss him and the two of them rolled over, ending up side by side facing each other. Their kisses, as before, escalated into heated passion and soon they were exploring each other. Shirts disappeared and the two licked, sucked and kissed each other, learning, exploring, pleasuring. Tim was so hard and so turned on he thought he would come right in his pants. Lying next to each other as they were – when they weren't rolling – each had his hand on the other one's erection and was squeezing, patting , stroking through their clothing.

Having an idea that would pleasure them both, Tim moved back up to Jethro's ear. He whispered to his lover who grinned and nodded, both pulling off the rest of their clothes. Tim turned around on the blanket so that Jethro's groin was accessible to his mouth. Then Tim reached for Jethro's rock hard penis, kissing and licking around the head and the split on the underside. He moved his tongue down to his inner thighs and balls, and then slowly up his shaft toward the head. While his tongue continued to lavish attention on Jethro's cock, Tim reached under his scrotum to lightly stroke on the sensitive perineum and then his long fingers reached Jethro's entrance. Jethro was moaning and having to exert great discipline to keep from writhing in his pleasure. Licking the pre cum off the head of his cock, Tim took it between his lips and into his mouth, first licking and stroking. Keeping the tip of his tongue on his palate, he sucked on his lover's penis, pleasuring the head and using his other hand to envelop the rest of the shaft. He felt the other man's balls tighten and then swallowed Jethro's seed as the man's orgasm hit, hard. When the spasms were done, Tim carefully licked him clean.

Looking up, he grinned at the look on his lover's face and scooted up for a deep kiss. Jethro, panting, finally broke the kiss, gently pushing Tim down on the blanket so that he again had access to Tim's genitals. He licked down the inner side of one of Tim's legs and then up the other, paying particular attention to his inner thighs. He licked around the head of his penis, then down the back to the scrotum and gently took one ball into this mouth, caressing it with his lips and tongue, then released it and took the other one in, giving it the same attention. The younger man was moaning and huffing, trying to hold himself still and keep from coming too soon. However, when Jethro took his penis into his mouth, licking and sucking the head, and then lightly rubbed his perineum, Tim lost it, coming so hard he thought he had passed out. He vaguely felt Jethro pulling him around and pulling his head down on the older man's chest. He gradually returned to his senses and gently kissed Jethro's chest. They stay wrapped up in each other's arms, only pulling apart when the moon rose, lighting up the shadows. It was time to return to the cavern. Even though they'd swallowed each other's cum, they were both sticky, so detoured to the North Cove and again had a very quick dip to rinse off. Drying off with one blanket, they dressed and headed downstairs, knowing they'd both sleep very well tonight.

XXX

The rest of that second week flew by as the crew focused on building the craft that would carry them home. Regular chores, egg gathering, goat milking, fishing, fruit gathering, tending the garden etc. were finally charted out so each person knew exactly what his or her responsibility was for any given day.

Mitas continued the majority of the cooking, although the others filled in to give him time off. His physical training continued, he had completed work with Tim and Tony and was now learning the fine art of knife throwing and various other niceties from Ziva. She reported he had a talent with the knife and would be concentrating on that although he had also requested kick boxing.

Gibbs and DiNozzo took time off ship building and completed the work on the garden fence that Tim had started. Before most of the seedlings had broken through their dirt ceilings, the garden was fenced and tilled, ready for planting. The first plants in the ground were the potatoes, garlic and onions.

The after-dinner readings were continued. After Tim finished the Zubin Cai book, Ducky began one of the mysteries he'd found in the footlocker. After that was complete, Ziva started an entertaining autobiography from one of the more 'out there' film stars.

Once they got past that first week of measuring and cutting, Gibbs made good with his intent to make sure everyone had personal time during daylight hours. Carrying on an American tradition, he also declared Sundays as their day off. That first Sunday found them puttering around the island, playing with the goats and doing a bit of coving. The most useful find that day was two interior strength doors which were carried down into the cavern for incorporating into the ship. Gibbs was making a point to gather the leftover pieces of lumber, not telling anyone what he hoped to do with it. He'd already completed two simple cabinets for the common area; they would be fastened into the ship's galley once that area was built.


	24. Chapter 24

For my reviewers - a special treat! Thanks everyone, you really make my day - every day!

* * *

Chapter Twenty Four

Third Week: The Beach!

By the Sunday of week three, the group had made plans and was determined to follow through. They were finally going to the Southern Beach to swim and relax. All of them now dressed in what Tony had labeled "castaway beach wear" and with no obstacles in their way, the group gathered up top and looked at the ATV.

"We should take it, it's not a long walk down, but it is a really long walk back."

"That makes no sense, Tony, it is the same distance."

"Think he means it feels longer on the way back, Ziva, if we've been swimming and are tired."

"Oh, now it makes sense. All right, I will drive, who is riding with me?"

Tim decided he'd walk and with a chuckle, Gibbs decided he too would rather walk down island. Ducky and Tony grimaced, but looking at each other, acknowledged neither of them felt like walking nearly the length of the island. Mitas laughed, he loved riding with Ziva and he hopped on the cart, standing in position behind her left shoulder. Ducky shrugged, hopped on and stood behind her right shoulder, first strapping his folding chair onto the cart. Tony sat on the back of the cart in between the chair and the fish box, and found something to hold onto. Ziva took off, holding her speed down while she kept an eye out for GG, Phyllis and Duke.

Sure enough, by the time they'd reached the outcropping of rocks where the goats lived, the three had appeared and were running after them. She rolled to a stop and looked at Tony.

He shook his head, "We'll have to change the box again afterwards."

Ducky laughed, "That's all right, I'll do it this time."

Tony nodded and released his white knuckled grip on the sides of the cart. He made the goat noises Gibbs had taught them and all three of the kids rushed to him. Shaking his head, he gathered them up, giving Phyllis a kiss on her little goat head and put them in the box, all three bleating. In a way, Tony was relieved; Ziva always drove more carefully when the young goats were aboard; making him think there was hope for her yet. For her driving skills anyway!

In a few minutes, they reached the trailhead down to the beach and Ziva stopped, waited for everyone to disembark, including the kids; then turned the vehicle and cart around so it would be ready for their trip home. The three goats led them down the path, and the others shrugged, why not, they were sure footed and would know the best way. However, they did pause at a curve in the trail where the entire panorama of the beach was visible. Tony had the camera with him, in their trusty waterproof bag along with their weapons and WTs. He fished out the camera and took several shots, then turned and included everyone on the path. Laughing and talking, they continued down the trail, taking turns with Ducky's chair and keeping an eye out for the best spots on the beach for their blankets and towels. There was a lone palm on one side and Ducky claimed that for himself and Timothy, when the younger man arrived.

When the ATV drove off with the rest of the crew, Jethro waited until the vehicle was out of sight and then pulled Tim in for a kiss. They stood there, locked in each other's arms and got reacquainted. It had been a long week and days since their evening under the stars; since then they'd had no more than a few hushed minutes together here or there. Jethro felt all of him coming to life and all of Tim too as they relished their closeness; probing, exploring, stroking, loving.

They didn't tarry for long; they knew the others would call if they didn't reach the beach soon. In fact, they had only reached the goats' lair when they heard the ATV. Remembering Chief Rogers, they drew their weapons and sighed in relief as they saw the driver was Ziva, who greeted them with, "You are taking too long, we want a group photo!" The two holstered their weapons and climbed on the vehicle, enjoying the ride the rest of the way. After she parked the vehicle, they followed her down the trail, stopping to admire the beauty of the beach just as the others had.

Having been told Tim had a spot reserved in the shade with Ducky, both men headed for the palm, only to be stopped by DiNozzo. "Whoa, you guys are finally here, we gotta have our group shot. Look, Mitas made a tripod out of rocks." Tony pointed behind them and they noticed that the flattest rock had a small carefully balanced pile of rock on top, resembling a tiny pyramid with a flat top. "You guys get with the others, come on Ducky, and I'll get the shot lined up, then set the timer and see how it works."

While Tim, Ziva and Mitas goofed around posing, Ducky and Gibbs stood in the middle amidst the others doing various silly things around them. Tony got the camera set up and finally had everything the way he wanted, only realizing at the last moment, he'd forgotten to leave a spot open for him. He took the shot anyway and then revamped their positions, this time with Ziva in the middle. After the men were settled in their places, Tony set the timer, carefully placed the camera on top of the pyramid and ran to sit in front of Ziva, legs crossed 'Indian' style. At his signal, they all put their hats on, not their NCIS caps, but their 'dorky' sunhats. Once the timer went off and the photo shot, they took a look and agreed it was a perfect memento of their first trip to the beach. Tim smiled, risking a glance at Jethro, he knew damn well what the two of them would remember whenever they saw this photo.

Having previously lathered up with sunscreen per Ducky's orders, they played in the surf for hours. When Ziva swam out a little too far for Jethro's liking he blew one of their whistles until she got the message and came back within his comfort level. Tony had found a child's inflatable pink pony and he was playing with that. Mitas had retrieved a couple of small size body boards in his last coving expedition; he and Tim played in the waves with those.

Ducky surprised them all with his strong swim strokes and Gibbs laughed at them as he too showed off his swim stuff. Challenged, Tim and Tony looked at each other, threw their toys to the beach and dove in, matching each other's strokes until they reached their boss. He promptly started a water war with them, using hands, legs, feet and whole bodies as they vied to see who could create the biggest wave or 'spout'. Mitas and Ziva joined them, with Ducky watching and calling out encouragement from a safe distance. Ducky finally declared Tony the winner, having the advantage of height over everyone but Tim and the 'advantage' of weight over a slimmed down Tim.

Once Tim was out of the water, Ducky insisted he join him under the palm and dry off in the shade, so Tim sat on his towel in the sand next to Ducky's chair. When Gibbs had had enough, not too long after Tim, he too wandered over to the tree and sat on the other side of the chair, mentally rolling his eyes at Ducky's clever separation. A smirk on his face, Ducky handed them each a bottle of water. Mitas soon joined them and the four men sat, idly talking, reading and just enjoying the day.

Neither Tony nor Ziva wanted any shade when they left the water and Ducky reluctantly left them basking in the sun; however after only a few minutes, he marched over with their hats, a dry towel and sunscreen. When Tony made a face and looked at Gibbs, he got a look so obeyed Ducky and Ziva followed suit.

As Tony dried, he deflated his pony and returning it to his pack, drew out another inflatable object, which proved to be a beach ball. Summoning the others, they played a rousing game of two on two beach ball volleyball, sans net, until Mitas missed a return when he was distracted by Tony's stomach growling.

Taking the ATV, Mitas was the first to depart, heading back to the cavern to start dinner. He took Ducky, his chair and Tony with him. Tony returned with the ATV and the others climbed on, having worn themselves out with their afternoon exertions. The goats had wandered back up the trail long ago; now looking back Gibbs made sure there was no discernable evidence his crew had been there. There was no litter, nothing forgotten and the sand where they'd played ball was being blown and resettled by the late afternoon breeze. Satisfied, he turned back to the cart and climbed on, ordering "Home, James." Tony and Tim snickered while Ziva looked puzzled but didn't ask.

Dinner that night was very quiet, although everyone had a healthy appetite. Ducky asked for their indulgence on reading that night as he was very tired and wished to go to bed early. The others agreed as they were pretty much feeling the same way. Gibbs thought it had been a successful afternoon, they'd had fun and relaxed, gotten some sun, always a concern of Ducky's, but hadn't overdone anything. Best of all, of course was the time he and Tim had spent together. After the rest of them trudged off to bed, Gibbs banked the fire and taking the lantern, followed his own nightly routine before turning in.

The next day they were back to work on the boat; they were progressing faster than Gibbs had hoped and were ready with the framing. They were nearly at the point where the smaller craft would be assimilated into the frame of the new ship. That meant that until the larger vessel was seaworthy, or at least ready for testing, they would be reduced to only the rowboats and the inflatable raft. If they needed to escape for any reason, they weren't going to get far. There wasn't any way around this, they had to build the new ship with the smaller boat inside of it; they couldn't wait and just plunk it in later. They had discussed it and hoped they would find an outboard motor in the flotsam that Tim could convert to solar power. None had yet turned up.

In the meantime, with the ATV testing results so positive, Tim was ready to test the assault craft with some of the solar powered batteries. This would be the final test before the boat would become part of the "Big Fish", the name they'd voted to call their new ship. The test would need to be as extensive as the one they'd done for the ATV.

The pending loss of their boat bothered Jethro so much that he asked the others to spend their free time searching for at least one rowboat sized outboard motor or even parts to make a motor. Three small outboard motors would be better and since the rowboats would serve as their lifeboats once they were on their way home, those motors would be extremely helpful. However, although they searched diligently, they reported no motors were found and Gibbs channeled his worry into redoubled efforts at making the new ship seaworthy.

Gibbs' concern increased as the scheduled test for the boat approached. The hoped for result of the test would be the battery running for a full nine hours. That meant taking the assault craft out of the cavern and running it until either the nine hours had been reached or the battery gave out. They would run the boat around the island and possibly increase the course a bit. However, no motors for the smaller boats meant that those on the boat would be stranded if the battery failed. Yes, they had oars on board the assault craft and the smaller boats but he didn't like the idea of any of them having to be rescued that way. He was puzzled when he noticed that Tim didn't seem to be the least bit concerned. And then he got it, his Tim wasn't worried for a reason. Something was up. And so it was.

The afternoon before the test, after their workday was done and Gibbs was having a quick swim in the bay, Tony and Tim slipped up the staircase. The group had been working on a surprise for Gibbs and had it hidden in the garden shed. While they retrieved the surprise, Tim looked over into the garden, admiring the various seedlings now rapidly approaching plant-hood. The peat pots with seeds had all been planted in the ground nearly 10 days ago and the plants were doing very well, with the exception of the 'olive tree/pit', which, to nobody's surprise, had not developed. In his spare time, Tim had been working with Gibbs to build planters large enough for the mature plants, small and light enough for the ship. The two grow lights were also assembled and tested; ready to be installed in the small corner of the ship that would serve as the plant nursery. Tim laughed to himself; he never could have handled this garden on his own. Tony had been a huge help and, surprisingly enough, had discovered that he liked it.

As they carried the boxes carefully back down the stairs, Ziva appeared and took one from them. She whispered, "Gibbs is out of the water and dressed, having a cup of coffee near the ship. Ducky is with him and Mitas is waiting for us at the table." They nodded at her as they walked toward the common area.

Reaching the table, they made a stack of boxes and then Tony called out, "Hey Boss, we need to see you over at the table."

"Why, DiNozzo?"

"You'll see when you get here, Boss." Gibbs glanced at Ducky and the look on Ducky's face told him he was about to find out the secret. Ordering himself not to be cranky, he walked back over to the table with Ducky, coming to a halt when he saw Tim and the others hovering near the table. He smiled, a genuine smile, they all looked so smug and excited. "Ok, I'm here, what's up?" They moved aside and Jethro saw three boxes stacked on the table. He squinted wondering what the heck, and then he knew. "You lot, all of you?" He saw nods from everyone.

"You too Duck?"

"Yes, Jethro it was too much fun to pass up the plotting and whispering."

Gibbs rocked back on his heels, amused. Tim, seeing a funny look on his face, stepped up, "Boss, aren't you going to open the boxes? We didn't have any wrapping paper, but we taped them up pretty good." Tony and Mitas snickered at that and Ziva handed Gibbs one of her lighter weight throwing knives. Gibbs was pretty sure it was the one usually holstered in her right sleeve.

He took the top box and slit it open to find an outboard motor with a small solar panel on it. Beaming, he held it up, "Three, you found three of these and you've converted them already Tim?"

"Yeah Boss, converted and tested."

"When?"

"Testing?"

At Gibbs nod, Ziva answered, "One day when you were fishing in the bay with Ducky."

"I have to say, guys, I'm impressed. Not only did you find exactly what we needed, you managed to hide them from me."

"Boss, the only reason we could do that is you've been so focused on the ship. Normally, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"That better be it, DiNozzo or its time for me to hang up my spurs!"

Laughing, he ruffled the boys' hair, patted Ducky on the back and gave Ziva a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks all of you, now I'll sleep better!"

"Want us to put one of these on a boat now, give you a test run?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Tim!" Grinning, the boys took one of the motors down to the shore and set it up on the nearest craft, one of the rowboats. Gibbs climbed in and the boys pushed the boat into the water, handing him the oars just in case. He smirked at them as he leaned forward and flipped the power switch on. The engine came to life and using the tiller, Gibbs took a quick spin around the small bay. He brought the boat back in, Mitas caught the lead line and he and Tim pulled the boat back up on the shore, Gibbs having tipping the motor into the boat, leaving the rudder safely away from the sand and rocks. "Well, Boss?"

"Great, just what we need for our lifeboats. Thought of something else we'll need…" The group gave a collective groan and Gibbs laughed. "No, really, we need seat pads and each boat needs a box of supplies, including more of the sunhats and sunscreen. We still got that box of sunhats?"

"Yes Gibbs."

"Hats, blankets, food, water, more water than you think, clothing, a tarp to shelter from rain. Enough for each of us and in each boat, got that?"

"Yes Boss."

"Ok, Duck, you're in charge of that since you'll know how much water and food we'll need. Ziva, you're on the team with him."

"Yes Jethro."

"Certainly Gibbs." The new team smiled at each other.

While they were talking, Mitas slipped away to start dinner. Tim had completed their solar oven a few days ago and Mitas was really enjoying using it. Tonight he was serving a vegetarian chili with baked cornbread and plenty of their fresh butter. Mitas wished for a few jars of honey; it would have gone remarkably well with the cornbread, but none had been found. Ducky had remarked several times that it was lucky they were doing so much physical labor or they would all have gained considerable weight during their involuntary exile. Mitas had changed his announcing routine a bit since they'd started working on the boat. The saucepan was now banged five minutes ahead of serving to give everyone a chance to wash up. The dinner was a rousing success, a nice break from their fish meals.

Gibbs woke at his usual time the next morning. Over his first cup of coffee, he thought about the test that would be taking place today. The boat would be out of the cavern for nine hours. He hadn't told Tim yet, but he planned to go with him. Neither Tim nor Ziva were seasoned at piloting a boat and he needed both Tony and Ducky's assigned tasks done today, so he was the logical one to go with Tim. That was his story and he was sticking to it. They'd have nine hours together, provided the solar charged battery cooperated. And the boat didn't really have to move for all of those nine hours, it could be sitting in the ocean, as long as the engine and thus the battery was running. When Tim joined him at the table with his coffee, he got a wicked smile from his lover. He'd come to know the differences in the man's expressions – a boss smile (or smirk) and a Jethro smile. Tim's heart started pounding as he interpreted the smile, hoping it meant what he wanted it to mean. He'd woken in the middle of the night from a dream in which he and Ziva were alone on the boat after a breakdown, with no means of communication with the others. It had taken him nearly an hour to get back to sleep and only after he'd resolved to ask Gibbs to go with him today. Now he decided to put it out there and see Gibbs' reaction. Mitas was nearby preparing breakfast, so Tim asked the question as the leader of the Solar Team and the team's junior agent, "Boss, got to thinking about the test. You know neither Ziva nor I have all that much experience boating. Don't you think you or Ducky or Tony should come with me? Ziva could work on…uh, whatever tasks you leave for her."

At the fire pit, Mitas worked to keep his smile to himself. He knew Ziva was not planning on going with Tim. It would be sheer lunacy to have two inexperienced pilots and it would give the two men an entire day to spend together.

Gibbs gave his answer, "I agree with you, Tim, I've been thinking about it for awhile. Tony and Ducky have tasks today that I need completed before we can move onto the next step. I've got things that Ziva can do, so yeah, I'm coming with you."

Tim's face lit up and his lover had to clench his hands into fists to keep from reaching over the table to him. "Ok, Boss, we leave at 0800, got what you need to take with you?" Gibbs' heart was pounding now as he thought about what they would need. "I will by the time we're ready to go." Tim nodded, grinning.

The two were quiet over breakfast. While neither were exactly chatterboxes, Gibbs usually had something to say about work on the ship and Tim would converse with the others. As Tony gathered the dishes for washing, Ziva spoke up, having waited patiently the entire meal to be told she was not going. "Gibbs, I have been thinking about the test. Neither Tim nor I are…"

Gibbs smiled at her, "You're working on the ship today, Zeever. You're right, can't have our entire Solar Team out there on the ocean without an experienced sailor."

Tony looked up, "I'll go Boss!"

"Thanks, but not today, DiNozzo; need you and Ducky to finish your pieces today so we can move to the next steps. I'm going with McGee. That leaves you in charge today, DiNozzo. Keep everyone safe!"

Tony straightened, "Will do Boss."

Tim headed back to his bed to collect his gear. He took his ginger root supplement and put some additional in his bag. Strapping on his seabands, he paused to look through his wallet for something, dug through his shaving kit and then grabbing his jacket, a towel and a blanket, he stuffed everything in his pack. Three beds down from him, Gibbs was doing much the same thing – without the ginger root and seabands of course. In preparation for making the assault craft part of the new ship, they had removed the heavier items to reduce the amount of weight that would have to be moved. This included the bunks, which were now carefully stored in the cavern.

When they walked back through the kitchen area, Mitas handed them a cardboard box. "Plenty of food in there, plus coffee and the coffeepot – just use the stovetop, that'll work, right Tim? Oh and a couple of jars of water, should be enough water for the day."

"Timothy, Jethro, you'll be towing one of the motorized rowboats, right?" They nodded at Ducky. "And you're taking WTs with you, we can test the range." More nods and then they put everything in the rowboat and Tim climbed in. Gibbs grinned as he pushed the boat into the water and hopped in as the engine purred to life. Ducky had followed them to the boat, "Be careful, both of you. We expect you back 9 hours from now and don't go outside the perimeters we discussed, please."

"I promise, Ducky, I don't want to be stuck out there anymore than you want us to!"

"Thank you Timothy. See you later this afternoon then."

Gibbs gave a sharp nod and they took off for the 45 second trip to the assault craft. Tim climbed on board with their gear and then took the tow line from Gibbs while Gibbs climbed aboard. By the time Gibbs had everything stowed, Tim had attached the towline. The engine purred as it was started and the pair waved to their friends on shore as they motored out of the cavern. Tim had the helm while Jethro stood by, ready to lend a hand if needed.

As they cleared the cavern, Tim headed south. Jethro waited a full minute before he leaned in for a kiss. "Mmm, you taste good, Jethro. Let's do a couple of loops of the island and then find a nice spot to anchor."

Tim was fine at the helm until they were headed around the southern part of the island when Loverboy Gibbs got handsy. Tim's hands jerked on the wheel as first his penis and then his backside were patted, stroked, squeezed and caressed. His body wanted to relax and enjoy the petting while his brain told him he had to keep control of the boat.

"Jethro, love, I don't think I can steer this thing if you're going to have fun."

"Hmm…" Jethro had his mouth on Tim's neck.

"Jethro, really stop please!"

The man stopped, laughing, "You're right Timmy; sorry I got carried away. I just never thought we'd have this opportunity and I don't want to waste a single minute."

"But we do have to waste a few minutes as they'll be waiting to hear us go around at least a couple of times."

"Once! Then we come back over to this side and anchor."

"Babe, I was thinking the eastern side, far enough off the coast to avoid any falling rocks. That way if they're out and about they won't see us."

"You always been this diabolical, Timmy?"

Tim grinned, "Only since I took up with you!"

While they were a few hundred feet off the west coast of the island, they successfully tested their WT with Ducky. After that, the trip back around the island didn't take them long and soon they had set the engine to idle, which Tim assured Gibbs was enough to provide valid results for the test. They dropped anchor slightly south of a large piece of rock that jutted out of the ocean. As the boat rocked gently in the waves, Tim reached for Jethro and pulled him in for a long sultry kiss. As he explored his lover's mouth with his tongue, he reached under his shirt and caressed his chest, stopping to play with his nipples. Finally they parted lips long enough for Tim to finish taking Jethro's shirt off and then resumed their dancing tongues. Jethro's hands started wandering up Tim's shirt and again they parted for a shirt removal. Smiling at each other, they hung on to each other as they headed to the former bunkroom. Today Gibbs spread both their blankets on the deck in there and retrieved a few items from both their packs. Tim thought of something he'd forgotten to check and did a quick retreat to the galley, nearly tripping over his pants as they slid down his narrow hips. Opening the box Mitas had given them; Tim was not surprised to find a bottle of olive oil. He grabbed it and, holding onto his pants, hurried back to Jethro. Jethro's eyes widened when he saw the olive oil.

"He knows?" Tim nodded, "At least suspects." He leaned down to put the bottle on the floor and Jethro reeled him in, helping him to step out of his pants. His boxers came next and those Jethro took some time removing, reaching in under the elastic and playing with first his cock and then moving down to his balls. Tim groaned in pleasure and thrust into Jethro's warm, demanding hands. Jethro pulled him back against his genitals and ground them into Tim's ass, both of them moaning in pleasure. Finally turning, Tim ran his hands down Jethro's chest and through the silver mat of chest hair. He stopped at his belly button and then leaning down, swooped his tongue around it and then back up to his nipples. He covered his man's chest and neck with kisses and his swooping swirling tongue while his clever hands with the elegant long fingers worked the zipper on Jethro's jeans. Leaving the garment where it sat, Tim worked his hands around to the back, sliding them under his man's underwear and grabbing his lover's ass. Rubbing circles on each butt cheek, Tim continued his ministrations to Jethro's torso, slowly moving his way back down to his waist. The older man hissed as his lover carefully pulled first his jeans and then his briefs down his body, taking care with his rock hard ready to go erection which bounced against his belly.

They stood naked, caressing, touching, nibbling, kissing and rubbing against each other, enjoying every sensation. Tim, still using his mouth and hands, trailed fingers and tongue down Gibbs' torso to his penis, sinking to his knees. Taking the head of Jethro's cock in his mouth, he laved it, swirling his tongue and giving the amount of pressure he'd learned pleased his lover the most. Those long fingers ran down the back, giving a light scratch that brought a shout of pleasure. The fingers continued, cupping Jethro's balls and ministering to them. One long lazy finger reached behind and scraped lightly along the sensitive passage to Jethro's entrance. Tim stepped up his ministrations to Jethro's penis while his finger rimmed his lover's entrance. He stopped for a second, his lover's cock popping out of his mouth, to reach for the olive oil and poured it on his fingers. Jethro was pulsing with need as Tim took his cock back into his mouth and resumed his loving. His finger had returned to Jethro's entrance to rim it again and now dipped into the hole, gently probing. Jethro yelled as Tim's finger invaded his most private place, the pleasure was almost too much. While the finger continued to rim and probe, Tim's other hand was stroking his balls. He felt them tighten and knew his lover was ready to come. Jethro's cock in his mouth, he tugged at his balls and Jethro yelled his name as he shot his cum into Tim's waiting mouth. He swallowed it all and then licked him clean. Pulling his finger from Jethro's hole, he helped him lie down on the deck with his knees up and spread open. His own cock fully engaged and bouncing against his belly, he lubed the man's entrance and his own fingers with more of the olive oil and spent several minutes preparing his entrance and fucking him with first one finger, then when Jethro was ready, a second finger and finally a third. Tim found the small bump that was his lover's prostate and made sure it was touched by each finger. When he had all three fingers in, he twisted them and Jethro thrust back at him, "Want your cock in me, Timmy. Want you to fuck me." Tim had been sitting on his haunches, now he rose onto his knees and leaning down, captured Jethro's lips in his. Then he returned to his knees and lifted Jethro's legs, wrapping them over his shoulders. He tucked one of the blankets under his hips and stopped to admire his lover, fully exposed, fully trusting and all ready for him. Tim reached for one of the condoms he'd removed from his wallet this morning. Slipping it on, he lubed his shaft with the oil and leaning down to kiss Jethro again, he lined his cock up with his lover's hole and entered him. He stopped when he felt Jethro's muscles clench around him, moaning at the feeling, continuing when his man nodded to him. He nearly came right away at the hot tight passage, grabbing the base of his shaft to slow him down a little. He thrust into his man, finding the right angle to hit his prostate and the two men rocked in their passion and pleasure as he fucked his lover into the deck. While Tim thrust into him, he was again stroking his penis and balls and Jethro was moaning his pleasure. Tim felt the tingling rising from his toes and knowing he was about to climax, leaned in for another kiss as he rode his man. He came so hard he saw white and it was a few seconds before his vision cleared and then he felt Jethro's balls tighten as he climaxed again. Tim carefully removed his cock from Jethro and disposed of the used condom. The two men collapsed on the deck, curling up with each other, ignoring the sticky mess.

Jethro finally found his voice, "Did you know?"

"That you'd never caught before? I didn't know, I guessed. I wasn't sure and I wasn't sure you'd want to, just decided I wanted to be the one to be your first."

Jethro snorted and the two laughed. "I want everything with you, Timmy, I hadn't thought about it to tell you the truth. I've always pitched before, there's never been a question about it, but this, this was beyond my wildest dreams. You loved me good babe and you can do it again whenever you want."

They were still wrapped up in each other when Tim's watch alarm sounded. "That's not time yet, Tim, it can't be!"

"No, it's not; it's just been three hours. I set it to chime every three hours."

"Mmmm, we're sticky, beyond sticky."

"I was thinking, we have the spear guns, we could take turns dipping in the ocean from the ladder while the other one stands guard with the spear gun, you know, in case there's any fins."

"Great idea, Timmy."

The two eventually made it to the upper deck and took turns rinsing Jethro's cum off of them. They lay out in the sun to dry off, Jethro rubbing sunscreen all over Tim. They'd brought their towels up with them and were rolling around on them, their passion building again when Tim's tummy growled. Jethro sat up and looked around, "Where is he, where's DiNozzo? I know that sound!"

Tim started to giggle and then blushed when his stomach growled again, louder this time and Jethro reached out to pat Tim's stomach. "Who knew my Timmy's tummy could outgrumble DiNozzo!" They finally dragged themselves off the deck and headed for the galley for their lunch. There were generous slices of ham and several biscuits freshly baked this morning. There were three small containers, one with butter, one with mustard and another full of their favorite berries. After they'd eaten the ham and biscuits, they tucked the berries away for later.

They wandered back into the former bunkroom and sat on their blankets, cuddling and talking. Tim yawned, he supposed from the sun and their earlier love making and Jethro followed him. Jethro lay down and pulled Tim on top of him and the younger man fell into a light snooze.

Tim woke to his body being stroked and petted by wonderfully calloused fingers and hands. He shuddered in pleasure and moaned as his lips were captured by his lover's. Jethro rolled them over and pinned Tim's arms above him. His lover proceeded to kiss and lick him from the top of his fingers stretched out on the deck, to the tips of his toes. Every square inch of him was gently kissed and licked as he squirmed in exquisite pleasure. When Jethro came back to his right ear and spent some time nibbling on the lobe, Tim nearly climaxed.

Jethro left Tim's ear and traveled to his penis, giving it one swift lick around the head. He then stood between the younger man's long legs admiring the beauty and strength of his man. He pulled Tim's legs up onto his hips and leaning forward, caressed his cock with his hands, then sliding down to his balls, gave them a tug or two, and slid his finger down the man's perineum to his entrance. He rimmed his entrance with one finger and then slid it back up to his balls.

Finally he could stand it no longer and pulling Tim's legs down spread them wide on the blankets. Climbing up his lover, he used his mouth and tongue on his inner thighs, finding the mark he'd left days ago and playing with it. When he moved his mouth to Tim's cock, taking in the head and swirling his tongue around it and down that sensitive split, Tim moaned his name in a growl that had his lover's cock nearly bounce off his belly. He lowered his mouth, again taking in the head while tugging at his balls, running his finger down the back of his cock, and down behind to his entrance. He poured olive oil on his fingers and rimmed Tim with one of them. The texture of Jethro's finger on that tight muscle nearly did Tim in and he groaned with pleasure. When that same finger found its way inside him, he groaned his lover's name. He thrust against the finger and Jethro rocked into him and when Tim was ready, he gave him a second finger. Tim stilled and then nodded and Jethro moved his fingers around, using a scissoring motion and changing his angle slightly to find the prize, Tim's prostate. Tim bucked off the deck and Jethro laughed softly, "Are you having a good time, love?" Tim could only groan in response as his lover continued with his fingers, now adding a third digit. When Tim began thrusting back, wanting more, Jethro removed his fingers and leaned in for a long kiss, and then he sat up, grabbing a condom, sheathing his cock in it and lubing it with more of the olive oil. He put on a show for Tim who was watching him with lust-filled eyes. When he was ready, he leaned in for another kiss and then trailed down Tim's body again, peppering him with kisses, stopping to use his tongue and mouth on Tim's penis and balls. He helped him bring his knees up to his chest and finally, he moved back to Tim's entrance and entered his body, keeping one hand on the younger man's cock. As he thrust into Tim, he cried out in pleasure, echoing Tim, at the tight hot passage. Tim thrust as much as he could and Jethro pistoned into him, fucking him into the deck, rocking them into ecstasy. With each thrust he stroked Tim's penis and fingered the sensitive split, running his finger down his perineum and then back up to his balls. Tim was shouting his name as Jethro gave a tug to his balls and then they both fell over the edge. Tim came in spasms and Jethro felt the clenching to his toes as he climaxed seconds later, coming so hard he thought he would pass out. Slowly he pulled out of his lover, disposed of the condom, licked Tim clean and then moved over him to kiss him deeply. Exhausted and sated, the two men lay back, wrapped in each other's arms and slept.

Jethro woke to the watch alarm. It had gone off at 6 hours and Tim had reset it for two additional hours, figuring they'd need an hour to take another dip in the ocean, dry off and clean up the boat. Now Jethro found Tim awake, he'd gotten up to check the engine and everything was going well. Both of them were sticky again, so they repeated their dips into the ocean and dried off with the towels they'd brought. They'd left them on the deck so the towels were not only dry; they were warm from the sun. They dressed, once again making sure each item went on the correct person, and then examined the blankets. The top one was in dire need of a wash, so they dipped it in the ocean several times, finally satisfied with the result. They draped it over the table to dry while they made sure the rest of the former bunkroom had no visible evidence of their lovemaking. While they saw nothing, they agreed the room did smell a bit, so they found some cleaning solution left behind in the galley and scrubbed the floor with it. That took care of it. With several minutes to go before they had to head back to the cavern, they sat at the table and fed each other the berries Mitas had packed for them, making sure to suck the juice off of each finger. Lastly, they walked the deck to stretch their muscles. Both were a bit sore but not so much that it inhibited them in any way.

When it was time to head back, Tim throttled up the engine while Gibbs gathered the towels and packed them away. The blanket was still wet but they'd found a large garbage bag in the galley and bundled it up in that and would stash it in Gibbs' pack at the last minute. The food box was re-packed, including the well depleted bottle of olive oil. Tim laughed when Gibbs held it up. "You know I brought my lotion with me, it's still in my pack." Gibbs smiled, "It was in your shaving kit, wasn't it? I saw you digging around in that and remembered that lotion for your dry skin, hoped that was it because I sure didn't have anything!"

Tim slowed the boat to a near stop right before they entered into visual range of the cavern and the two lovers kissed each other softly. Then with smiles on their faces, they continued on their way after a successful day of testing.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

Doing the Hurricane Twist

The day they combined the two boats, old and new, was one to remember. It had taken them weeks to get to this point and it was not the end point, but it was one of the most critical. Everything was ready, had been inspected carefully more than once and now it was time. Once the boat was moved and secured in the Big Fish, the bunks and other items that had been removed would be added back.

The lower deck of the new boat was complete and floating in a narrow channel they'd dug into the cavern shore. The assault craft was maneuvered up onto the sand and ropes were attached to form one of Gibbs' now familiar 'nets'. Attaching the pull ropes to a fulcrum, the one woman and five men hauled until they had the smaller vessel in the air. Once it was at the right height and the pull rope securely tied, they very carefully edged it over the new ship and then as slowly as they could manage, loosened the pull rope and lowered the boat into the body of the Big Fish. When it sat snugly with no problems, the ship holding its volume in the water, they stood staring at each other before breaking into cheers. Gibbs had the biggest smile any of them had ever seen on the man's face, except for Tim and he wasn't telling. This made it real; this now felt like a real ship, looked like a real ship and they were going home in it!

After a break to celebrate they returned to work securing the former assault craft to the new hulls and lower deck of the new boat. Once that was done Gibbs had them set the anchor and add additional bracing so that their future home would stay put in the channel and not slip out into the cavern bay with the changing tides.

When they had finished and were relaxing around the fire pit, Ducky poured each a small tot of the brandy that had been found on board the boat recently, tucked between one of the bunks and the hull. Toasting to their continued success and the journey home, they enjoyed their treat.

XXX

Ziva looked at the scant number of eggs she'd found, then looked up at Mitas, puzzled. He shook his head and turning, walked over to Nanny with their milk jar. Nanny was fidgety today and only willing to part with a small bit of milk. The three youngsters, no longer babies, were nowhere in sight, unusual for them. Remembering Gibbs' words a few weeks before, Ziva pointed to the sky. "Mitas, there is a storm brewing. Remember in that last storm, Gibbs told us the chickens and the goats would know."

He nodded, looking to the storm clouds. "Yeah, that's not pretty, we'd better let the others know, aren't Tim and Gibbs down in Flotsam cove?"

"Yes, I believe so. I will call Gibbs if you will call Ducky, he will know where Tony is."

Making their calls on the WTs, they headed back toward the cavern, meeting Tim and Gibbs at the cistern, checking the volume. It was full, so they left the cover on, anchored it well, and grabbed the water end of the hose as there was no need to leave it up top. Gibbs grabbed DiNozzo's clothes off the clothesline, noticing the wind had picked up considerably. Tim, always fascinated by storms, was standing enthralled by the quickly approaching swirl of dark clouds. Gibbs stopped and shook him, "Tim, come on, we need to get down below."

"But look at that, it's weird. It's not like the last…holy shit, Jethro, that's a hurricane!"

Gibbs took one quick glance as he grabbed Tim and hauled him to the stairs. When they got below, the others were hauling the ship up the narrow channel as far as she would go. Once they had her as secure as possible, they dragged the rowboats and raft nearly up to the back wall, then started moving the cabinet and boxes from the kitchen area.

"Tim, in a hurricane how high will the tides reach?"

"Boss, the water marks on the sides of the cavern are lower than our common area. And if you'll look at the tallest rock in the wall between the common area and the workbench, you'll see the marks there too. That will have been the highest tide this cavern has been through."

"And how old did you say this island is?"

Ducky replied, "Jethro, we believe it to have been on the surface for at least a few hundred years."

"Ok, let's get everything moved up to the rooms though, yeah, tools and the work bench, definitely. Mitas, glad we had the barbecue and the solar oven down here the other night; we'd have lost them up top! Tim, sorry about the garden, nothing we can do." Tim nodded, he would worry about that later; there really was nothing they could do.

Within minutes the common area was clear of their belongings, which were carried to the pillar room. There were two rooms in the cavern that had a slight elevation, and the pillar room was one of them. They had a fire pit in there already, built to accommodate Tony when he had been felled by a stomach bug and Ducky wanted to isolate him in case it was contagious. Deciding to be extra cautious, they also moved their personal belongings and the beds. The table, bench and chairs were set up, the lanterns lit and soon the room looked cheery, although they were missing their bay and the now familiar hulls of the Big Fish. Tony had a thought, "What about the chickens and the goats? Will they survive hurricane winds, Tim?"

"I…to be honest, we won't know until it's over, Tony. Unless…."

"NO, no one is going out there to find those animals. I forbid it, Ziva; you sit your butt down NOW." Gibbs had used a voice none of them had heard in recent weeks and Ziva turned; her eyes wide. "I was not going up top, Gibbs, but I believe I hear the chickens and the goats, would they normally take shelter here, do you think?"

Gibbs sighed, "The chickens yes, I don't know how the goats would have gotten down before the staircase."

"There was a cave-in, Boss, remember? That's why there was so much rock. So maybe the room was open before and the rocks piled high enough for them to get to – maybe this was where they took shelter."

Gibbs glared at his SFA and then sighed. "All right, but just up the staircase, NOBODY goes outside, got that?"

Replies from everyone satisfied him and he led the way to the staircase. Moving their metal car door 'hatch', which had replaced the 'camo' bush, he was nearly struck in the face when one of the hens flew by him, squawking. The chickens were followed by the goats, bleating noisily. The livestock were led into the second room with a higher elevation and Tony and Tim found a large metal panel in their pile of spare materials that could act as a door to the temporary animal pen. Remembering the opened bag of rice he had eventually brought down to dry out some electronic pieces, Tim thought they could now use that to feed both chickens and the goats. That and fish parts; they'd had the afternoon off yesterday and Tim, wanting to test his solar powered refrigerator, had suggested a fishing marathon. Enough fish to feed the humans, goats and chickens was now cooling in the refrigerator…on the ship. He sighed. Tony looked at him, questioning and Tim explained.

DiNozzo's face lit up. "Ah McDoubter! When we got the call from Mitas about the storm, he asked us to grab enough fish – and milk – off The Big Fish for three days. Ducky and I grabbed extra and it's in the cooler. Plus we have some of that smoked fish Boss did; we can eat that if we have to. We'll be all right; we won't starve even if the storm lasts longer than last time."

Tim gave him a relieved grin, "That's great, Tony!" They returned to the pillar room.

Tony grabbed Mitas and they walked off, discussing menus for the duration of the storm. Tony had made gnocchi earlier that morning and they would serve that for lunch today, with a creamy garlic butter sauce, made with their fresh grown garlic, a bit of cream from their nanny goat, a little flour and fresh butter with parmesan cheese for anyone who wanted it. Ziva had found a box of bagged walnuts still in the shell and last night, Tony had cracked several of the whole nuts open, picked out the nut and would add that to the dish. Their regular lunchtime was still a few hours off, so they made their plans and then returned to the table.

While they were sitting there, Tony remembered that he'd wanted to talk with Tim about Zubin Cai and the fact that the younger man's three friends had begged to be included in the books. Tim had mixed feelings about this conversation, he hoped it would help with the never-going-to-die issue of including his team as characters in his Deep Six books but he was having a hard time relating his much younger, teenage self who'd started out publishing as Zubin Cai to who he was now. The two of them walked up and down the passageway talking. Tim finally got through to DiNozzo that he hadn't really thought about it, that including his team as characters hadn't even been a conscious decision. What he didn't tell Tony because it was none of his business, was that writing the first Deep Six book and his work as a Federal Agent had contributed to his recovery from the deaths of his lover and friends. Despite Tim's misgivings, the two had a good talk and Tony walked away feeling he'd gotten to know Tim better. Tim walked away hopeful the whole issue would never raise its ugly head again and thankful that Tony had listened to him. Maybe, just maybe they could finally move past this.

That discussion completed, they sat back with the others. They sat, they read, they talked and in far less than an hour were bored stiff. All of them. They led active lives and relaxing was one thing but enforced relaxation was something else. Ducky offered to teach them bridge and while Ziva and Tim were moderately interested, none of the others had any interest in the game. The cards were brought out however, and Ducky played endless games of solitaire or "Patience" as it was known in his homeland. Tony grabbed another deck and they played Double Solitaire and then a rousing game of "War". By the time Ducky had trounced DiNozzo, it was time for lunch.

Over the gnocchi, which everyone loved, Gibbs mentioned a few card games he'd played with his family when he was growing up. He thought a game called 'Hearts' would be fun and competitive enough for his bunch. So after the lunch dishes were done up, they settled in to learn how to play. The game was an instant hit and they played for several hours before Ducky called a halt.

"I need to move, I cannot sit here, nor can any of you, for two more days doing nothing!"

"Suggestions?"

"If the staircase is not wet, walk up and down ten times a day."

"Run up and down the corridors, have races, do some weight training using rocks as weights. Stretch, do yoga, Pilates, we just need to move!"

"Dance!"

"Well, yes, Timothy, however that's always easier with music."

"My laptop is fully charged and I've got a lot of music stored."

"On your work laptop, Probie?"

Tim rolled his eyes at him, reached into the storage tub that held his personal belongings and held out his IPod. "On this, Tony; my IPod, which I can plug into my work laptop."

Tony shrugged, not sure how dancing with only one girl in the group was going to be any fun. Gibbs grinned; _oh this was going to be fun_. He bet none of them but Ducky and Tim really knew how to dance and they were going to show them. He and Tim had danced under the stars on a few occasions and he'd taught Tim some of his favorite dance moves. He'd teach them how to enjoy dancing, no partner necessary. Ducky grinned at him and turning, asked Tim to show them the titles he had. As he scrolled down the list, Ducky was relieved to find Tim's taste tended to the eclectic with a distinct absence of the heavy metal they were used to being subjected to in Abby's lab. He finally picked a list of 70's hits that he knew Jethro would know too. Tim smiled when he saw the playlist, he loved the dance moves Jethro had taught him and he was really looking forward to this. He got everything set up, turning the volume up before hitting play for the set. Ducky and Jethro were up on their feet in no time and Tim soon joined them. Ziva jumped up and watching carefully, quickly learned the steps the three men were doing. Mitas followed and Tony finally gave in to the music. Jethro would change the dance, Ducky and Tim would follow and the others would flail along until they figured it out. They danced for over an hour, until the playlist had finished. They were breathless, exhausted and laughing, having had a wonderful time. Tony had forgotten all about not having girls to dance with, with all of them dancing it didn't matter.

When the music stopped and they were still trying to catch their breaths, they laughed some more when they heard the goats bleating, seemingly in time to the last song that had played.

Gibbs had been thinking while he was dancing and teaching the others. There was a rather large task still needed for the Big Fish that hadn't yet been tackled – the making of the sail. Using the height of the mast and the measurement of the ship, Tim had calculated the necessary size of the sail and had double checked it on an advanced spreadsheet program he had on his laptop. Gibbs had sketched what the sail needed to look like and he and DiNozzo had figured out the pattern pieces, as it were. That was as far as they'd gotten. Now he looked around and spotted the large bolt of sailcloth; they could work on this and continue working toward their goal. They had too much stuff in this room to spread the cloth out; but he remembered a room across the passageway that was bigger. It was chilly in there so no one used it much. It would do for the laying out and cutting of the sailcloth.

He whistled, getting everyone's attention. "There's work we can do here getting the ship ready. Anyone have any ideas?" He was standing at the back wall of the room, next to the upright huge bolt of fabric.

Tim smiled, "Making the sail, Boss. We'd have to lay it out somewhere else to cut it though."

"I'm thinking the room next to the animal pen. Yeah, I know its cold in there, so the sooner we get the pieces cut; the sooner we can come back in here and start sewing."

Tim and Ziva, feeling proprietary about their bolt of sailcloth, moved it to the 'chill' room as it was quickly dubbed. Ducky helped them roll it out and Mitas and Tony started marking it, large pieces first, for cutting, keeping a close eye on the drawing Tony and Gibbs had made of the various pieces. Once they had the main pieces marked, Gibbs and Ducky inspected it, Gibbs making a slight adjustment on two of the larger pieces and then approved the layout.

They traded off doing the cuts from piece to piece. As a left-hander Tim had some problems with the scissors, but managed to overcome that obstacle. None of the younger set had ever cut fabric before, so Ducky was on hand to watch and guide. Gibbs had disappeared; he told Tim later he was too nervous to watch the newbies cutting into their only large piece of fabric.

Once those pieces were cut, they were checked off the drawing, more fabric was rolled out and the same process was followed. Each fabric piece was numbered to correspond with a numbered piece on the drawing. They followed the process until all the pieces had been cut and numbered. Ducky and Mitas had been removing the cut pieces to their temporary living quarters and once done with the cutting, they all re-grouped in the much warmer room, grinning at each other. They had been dreading making the sail but now it felt like a big step toward going home and today, hunkered down here away from hurricane winds, being home sounded pretty darn good.

There were no pins, but among the various sewing items they'd found were bottles of fabric glue. Ducky and Gibbs carefully glued together the seams of the largest piece of the sail, then set it aside, carefully keeping it flat and straight, while the glue dried. Ducky had instructed Tim in the fine art of hand sewing; he'd practiced first on scraps of this and that and then had graduated to repairing some of the rips and tears of his crewmates clothing. His long fingers proved to be adept at the simple stitches needed and he enjoyed sewing, much to his surprise it was soothing and had immediate results. The others seeing him work at it, had gradually all fallen in with practicing and so their shirts and pants and other bits of clothing soon had additional stitching; in the case of both Mitas and Ziva, some decorative stitching. Luckily some of the sewing supplies they'd uncovered while coving had needles large enough to use on the sturdy sailcloth. There were enough of the needles so that three people could work at the same time. Gibbs and Ducky had spent some time worrying about the reliability of the thread and had finally decided to use a quadruple sewing pattern. Each seam would be glued, then hand sewn, using a triple length of thread, four times. That should provide the tensile strength needed for their sail.

They worked the rest of the day on the largest pieces, finishing their last stitches as their stomachs were starting to rumble for dinner. As they finished, Gibbs got dinner started while Ducky and Tony went to feed and water the goats and chickens. The nanny goat was bleating, so Tony ran back across the passageway and grabbed their milk jug. They were both surprised when they got a full jug of milk from nanny; Ducky theorized that she was feeling secure in the closed pen. As Tony finished milking nanny, Ducky heard some of the hens clucking and taking the now empty pail used for the scraps to feed the animals, he found enough eggs to last them for a few days. It seemed these animals were happy here in their temporary quarters and he hoped that was a good omen for their future lives aboard the Big Fish.

After the group had eaten dinner and washed up, they sat around the fire pit, as was their custom and Tony handed Tim a book he'd found in the foot locker. It had been in the very bottom and covered by a large atlas. Tim looked at it and then at Tony.

"Would you please read it to us, Tim?"

"Are you sure, Tony?"

"Yeah, hearing your words in your voice will give me a different perspective and Mitas here really loves your books."

"As do I, my boy."

"Me too, Tim."

When Tim looked at Ziva, she smiled and nodded, "Please."

Tim swallowed and then opening to the first page, began reading the book, the first Deep Six novel. He read several chapters before he started getting a bit hoarse. Hearing the hoarseness, Ducky tapped him on the shoulder, "Thank you, Mr. Gemcity but I think your voice needs a rest now." Smiling, Ziva patted Tim on the back, "I will read tomorrow night, if that is all right with you?" Tim nodded, grinning. He'd never envisioned this day, when his co-workers would not only drop their antagonism but also ask him to read his book to them. Sitting with Gibbs and Ducky, having a last cup of coffee, Tim couldn't stop smiling and Gibbs realizing their legs and feet were out of viewing range of the others, crossed his foot with one of Tim's. That made Tim's grin even bigger, until a yawn escaped and he headed to his bed.

The storm roared around them for two more days as the crew continued their sewing and physical activity as prescribed by Ducky. On the second day of the storm, they staged races along the passageway. After warming up, they held various sprints followed by a relay with the four younger ones with Gibbs and Ducky holding the stopwatches. They measured laps for a mile in the passageway and Ducky held the stopwatch on that one as Gibbs wanted to compete. As a federal agent, he needed not only to sprint but also be able to hold up in a longer chase after suspects. Rather than crowd the passageway, they ran in two heats, Tim, Ziva and Mitas followed by Gibbs and Tony. Ziva and Tim tied for the sprints, Mitas and Tony won the relay and Tim, much to his surprise, won the mile with Ziva coming in a very close second, Gibbs in third, Tony in fourth and Mitas in fifth. Tony was appalled and vowed to lose weight and build his strength. Tim was too astounded to say anything; he'd never won a physical race of any sort. Gibbs was so relieved he finished, he didn't care how he placed.

The events had covered the entire passageway, which ended in the cavern, so each of the racers had seen that their cavern was not adversely affected by the high tides and winds of the storm. After the races were finished, Gibbs gave Tim and Tony permission to check out the Big Fish and the various boats.

The two men reached the cavern and stopped to take a closer look before they ventured over to the ship. The back wall and their sleeping area were dry as was the storage area where the bunks and other items removed from the assault craft were being temporarily housed. The sand where the table normally sat was relatively undisturbed; it still showed the markings of the table legs. The first evidence of high tide was their fire pit, with a puddle of water at the bottom. The sand below it and to the side where the dish box usually lived and down to the shore, was very wet and the tall rock, the one with the high water mark, was wet but not as far up as the existing high water mark. They took their shoes and socks off rather than deal with a mess and walked through the wet sand to the ship. The rowboats were at the head of the channel where they'd been dragged and happily, the barge had not escaped the cavern although it had changed its position and was wedged backwards on the shore toward the north wall of the cavern bay. It was tightly wedged so they left it there and turned back toward the ship. It was in the same place they'd left it at the head of the channel, although some of the temporary bracing had fallen. They put that back in place before they turned to examine the bay itself. The water was murkier than they had ever seen it but calmer than they had expected. They moved to the spot on the shore where they could see out the cavern opening and saw dark clouds still covering the horizon as far as they could see. This storm was not done yet.

They returned to their storm quarters and reported their findings to Gibbs, who was currently sewing with Ziva and Ducky. Mitas lay asleep on his bed and both the younger men sent questioning looks to Ducky. "He's all right, said he didn't sleep well last night."

Shrugging, Tony took a look through their food supplies to see what was available for lunch. He decided to try something new to him, a repeat of Mitas' vegetarian chili and cornbread. Tim offered to help, so he was assigned the task of making the cornbread, which Mitas had baked in their solar oven. Luckily it had been fully charged before the storm hit. Tim followed the recipe Mitas had written out, stirring the batter he felt it tasted just right and had Tony try it. Tony agreed and Tim popped it into the oven for its bake. He took the butter out of the cooler so it would be a little malleable by lunchtime. Tony had no trouble with the chili, although he did tweak the recipe a tiny bit. In no time, lunch was served. The sail-makers (having turned their noses up at the normally respectable titles of seamstress or tailors) carefully pulled the pieces flat and straight and headed for the table. Ducky woke Mitas and he joined them, impressed by Tim's cornbread and Tony's chili.

The third day they checked the cavern again and finding the water in the bay near its normal color and the clouds outside dissipating, Gibbs and Ducky agreed they could swim in their bay. Having had no swim or chance to really clean up in three days, all six of the castaways were eager to at least rinse off in the bay water. They moved the barge, anchoring it about midway in the cavern bay and soon found themselves racing each other. Gibbs' strong upper body proved to be the edge he needed to beat all three of his agents, although they had to stop and make some rules. Ziva's lithe body was more powerful underwater, so they allowed that, but disallowed some of the tricks Tony had tried. Mitas swam peacefully along as did Ducky, neither interested in the competition. When Gibbs declared himself the winner, he was deluged with water from his team, he fought back and the four played in the water until Ducky called them out for a rest, having first snapped several photos, including one with Ziva perched on Tim's shoulders kicking water at their boss while Tony floated nearby in his pink pony, arms and legs flailing, adding to the attack on Gibbs. The wonder of the shot was that all four of them were laughing so hard they were in danger of drowning themselves with the amount of salt water they were swallowing.

They finally staggered out of the water, grabbed towels to dry their prune-y selves off and headed back to their temporary quarters for dry clothes. Ziva took her stuff to her bathroom, but Tony stayed and dressed, much to Tim and Gibbs' disappointment, each was hoping he could steal a moment or two with his lover.

The storm had moved on by the next morning, so they moved everything back to the main cavern, then set out to resume the work they'd had to drop three days before. The sail was not yet complete, but Gibbs thought they could work on it in the evenings and when they reached a stopping point on the ship.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

Landslide!

By the end of the following week, the sail was complete. It was tightly rolled and stored aboard the Big Fish.

Although the hurricane winds had been fierce, the storm damage to the island was not as bad as they had feared. Both the ATV and the cart had survived, although the cart was found hanging off a rock on the other side of the island and was battered but still usable. The garden fence was missing pieces but most of them were found near or in the north cove and Gibbs set about repairing it. The garden itself was pretty torn up, but Tim and the others were able to salvage most of the plants. The zucchini didn't make it nor did the heirloom tomatoes. However, the other tomato plants survived; the ones that Tim had cultivated from the seeds of the one tomato Mitas had given him. The potatoes, carrots, squash, soy and bush beans had somehow avoided any damage. The corn was pretty well mowed down, but they salvaged more than half the plants, planning on feeding the goats and chickens with that on their voyage. The spinach, chili peppers, cantaloupe and pinto beans survived, however the cilantro and pumpkin were beyond saving and the plants were removed to feed the animals. They had been released after the storm, the goats herded up the staircase, the chickens leading the way and both species headed straight for their usual habitats.

Remembering the dead chicken found after the last storm Tony, Mitas, Ducky and Ziva decided to walk the length of the island to survey the damage. Tim was still working on the garden and Gibbs the fence, so the others left them to their work.

Tim had actually done everything he intended to do in the garden and Gibbs had finished the repairs on the fence several minutes ago. As the others disappeared from sight, Tim grabbed Gibbs and pulled him in for a soul-searing kiss. They stood there wrapped together, each enjoying the touch and feel of the other. They knew they wouldn't have much time, so kept their touches light and their clothes on. Sure enough, within a few minutes Mitas and Ducky returned, carrying something wrapped in a palm frond.

"What ya got there, Mitas?"

"Hey Tim, geez the garden looks much better."

"Thanks, so what is it?"

"It's another dead chicken, Timothy, we didn't think to bring any bags with us and so we wrapped it up in the palm fronds. Cory and I will pluck and clean it and we shall feast this evening!"

Mitas smiled, "I'm thinking about barbecuing, does that sound good?"

Gibbs' grin nearly split his face, "Sounds great, Mitas, can't wait! Where are the others?"

"I asked them to check the bay to see if our skeletal friend was still trapped in the debris or perhaps had found a home in the deep." Gibbs nodded; he hoped the skeleton had been swept to some other island or resting place during the storm. Tim recited the periodic table in his head to avoid thinking about the skeleton and was still doing that when his favorite pair of lips descended upon him. "Come back to me, Timmy, I'm happy to distract you…as much as you want."

Startled, Tim looked around but the cook and the doctor had disappeared, downstairs he supposed.

He scrunched his face, "Want to go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

The two headed north and sat on the highlands above the cove watching the waves roll in, talking lazily, drinking in the sunshine after three days of darkness but mostly just reveling in each other's company.

XXX

Ziva and Tony helped Mitas and Ducky roll the dead rooster up in the palm fronds and then watched them walk away. Ducky had asked them to check the bay, so that was next for them. They both paused at the trailhead to check their weapons, laughing at each other for having the same thought. As they hiked down, they saw a lot of tree debris but nothing more than that. As they came to the bend in the trail, both peered toward the part of the beach where Rogers had been found. The propane canister had finally landed on terra firma, even to the point of standing straight up. There was nothing else there, the north side of the bay. The box of camp stove fuel was long gone, had been moved closer to the cavern shortly after the other lanterns were found.

Now they turned to the south side and hoping they would find nothing, walked to the edge of the bay and the ocean. They had the camera with them and Ziva used it to look further south on the edge of the bay. She saw nothing, no debris, no skeleton. She turned to Tony, "Please confirm what I am seeing and no, I will not tell you what I think it is. I do not want to set your expectations." Tony had his fingers and toes crossed that there would be nothing; he sure couldn't see anything with his eyes.

"McGeologist was right; there is a drop-off there, if we'd tried from the woods that day, we would have been in real trouble."

Ziva smiled, "I believe a more accurate name would be McTopographer."

Tony gave a low whistle, "That's a tongue twister, Ziva, but a good one."

"You may use it, he accepts it from you. I am not sure it would be seen in the same way coming from anyone else."

"Whatya mean - it's a compliment, he saved us a lot of trouble, maybe even our lives."

"Then just make sure you say that, Tony."

"Huh, ok, no problema." Tony was mystified about the whole conversation, remembering Tim's remark to Mitas about some of the names being funny. _Oh, Ziva might not have heard that. _

Still using the camera, Tony turned a 180, checking the periphery of the bay and the interior for anything they might have missed. Seeing nothing unusual, he passed the camera to Ziva who did the same thing, also finding nothing. Tony sighed, "We need to go do the other side, don't want to be sloppy and miss something." Ziva smiled at her partner, "Ready to go home and be an investigator again, Tony?"

"Yeah, Ziva, I'm ready. How about you?"

"Yes, as…interesting a challenge as this has been, I am ready to return home."

Tony snickered as they continued their walk to the north side of the bay.

"At least we lucked out landing on the best supplied island in the ocean!"

"And with a carpenter who's also a boat builder, a solar power & electronic wizard, a doctor and a cook!"

"Yep, we've been pretty lucky."

They were visually scanning as they walked and had reached the northern edge of the bay. Tony had the camera so he did the first sweep and saw…probably nothing. He wasn't quite sure if there was something really on the rocky outcropping or if it was a shadow. He looked up at the sun, yeah, it could be a shadow. Still not sure, he handed the camera to Ziva. She looked and spotted the same thing.

She sighed, "I cannot tell either."

"I'll call for the binocs." Tony had their WT out and called Ducky, knowing he and Mitas had planned on going below to clean the chicken.

"Yes, Anthony? You've found something?"

"We're not sure, it's on the northern side of the bay, out on a rock and we can't tell if it's a shadow or a something. Are the binocs down there?"

Mitas nodded, holding them up for Ducky to see.

"Yes, we'll be up with them shortly." Thinking fast, Ducky stepped away and called Gibbs, not waiting for him to acknowledge when he answered.

"Tony and Ziva believe they may have found something new on the northern side of the bay. Mitas and I are just taking them the binoculars."

"Good, Duck, see you there."

Jethro smiled at Tim as they broke their cuddle, "Time to get up, babe, private time is over, work calls."

Tim nodded, "How soon will the ship be ready, Jethro?" The older man laughed, "Not soon enough, Timmy, not soon enough!"

They joined Ducky and Mitas at the top of the trailhead and the four of them hiked down the slope to Ziva and Tony. Mitas silently handed the binocs over to Tony, who took another look. "I still can't tell, huh, now I'm really not sure! I think it moved."

He handed the binocs to Ziva who had a good long look and finally said, "It is not a shadow and it has moved, I can see a bit of…I believe it is a…what do you call it…a water creature, with flappers…no, flippers."

"A dolphin?"

"No, it makes a noise, like Tony does when he coughs."

Gibbs, Tim and Ducky said in unison, "A seal?"

"Hey!"

"It's nothing personal, Anthony, not as if you can help it."

"Thank you Ducky."

Tim thought about it, "I wonder if it was brought here in the storm, or there's always been some and we've never noticed."

"Would we not have heard them, Tim?"

"I suppose so, unless they are down on the south-eastern side, we haven't explored down there at all."

"And we have no need to at this point, Tim. Ok, so nothing we can do for him, he's in his natural habitat."

"Yes, Jethro."

Mitas looked thoughtful, "Too bad we don't have a fish or two to throw to him." The others chuckled and then thinking they might actually be preventing the seal from entering the bay and finding fish, they turned and left.

Mitas had one last thought. "It's good to see something alive down here and I'm glad the skeleton is gone. Kind of makes this bay a little less creepy." The others nodded, agreeing.

When they reached the top of the trailhead, Tim looked across island to the south-eastern portion. Tony and Ziva followed his eyes and all three looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs sighed, "All right, but you report in every 15 minutes and you may not climb down any cliffs. You will stay up top and use your eyes and the binocs. No more than one hour, got that? Here, give me the camera."

Ducky added his own warning, "Stay out of the water, where there are seals there may also be sharks."

The three nodded, Tony fighting back the urge to say yes to 'Dad and Mom'. They walked across the path and stood at the field of rock, wondering where to start. Their three young friends appeared by their sides and when Tim stepped forward, the goats bleated and led them to a small path.

Gibbs shook his head, why should he feel better that the goats were with them? What if one of them needed help, fell off a rock? Ducky patted his arm, "They'll be fine, Jethro, they're all three sure-footed, yes I meant our three, not the goats."

It didn't take long for the trio, following their goaty friends, to reach the edge of the island. When Tony got too close to the edge, the goats bleated and Tim and Ziva grabbed his belt. "What, I can't even look?"

"Gibbs was right, Tony, we do not know how stable this land is after the storm." Tony hadn't thought of that and backed off. The goats led them north a little bit and they came to an area where the rock and land had fallen into the ocean. They went no further than the goats; in fact, they stayed well behind them after Tim reminded them they weighed a lot more than the three young goats. Even from this distance, they could see down into the ocean and saw a large black rock, one they remembered seeing on their first approach to the island. Ziva and Ducky had noted it on their boat tour, Tim and Jethro had anchored near it during their day of testing the assault craft's solar powered battery. The rock itself seemed to be squirming and using the binoculars they found it covered with seals. Looking further out into the water, they also spotted shark fins.

"Hope our bay seal can get back home eventually."

"If he can get into the bay, Tony, there's enough fish, if there's sharks, he can swim onto the sand."

"I hope we will never know."

"Yeah, Ziva, me too. Ok, guys, time for our second check in."

As Gibbs seemed to have descended into a rather foul mood, Tony handed Tim the WT, "Here, maybe he won't bite _your_ head off."

Tim manfully suppressed a risqué reply and called in on the WT, telling Ducky of their find and the discovery of sharks off their island. Mitas heard the report and shivered, he was terrified of sharks. He remembered all the times they'd just jumped in the water here without another thought. Gibbs shook his head, having pretty much the same thoughts. He did think of taking the smaller boats out and fishing for shark, but with the number of fins spotted, he supposed that wasn't the smartest thing to do.

The trio of explorers soon headed back, carefully following their goaty guides once again. Once they got to the center of the island, the goats sprang off toward their lair and the three humans walked on, clearing more debris off the path as they went.

Although they checked the bay for the seal several times after that, they never saw it again. The next time Tim was out walking with Gibbs, Ducky and Mitas, the others wanted to see 'Seal Rock', so whistling for the goats, Tim led the humans. Mitas had the camera this time and grabbed some shots of the two older men petting and talking with the young goats. Tim caught him at it and insisted on taking a shot of him with GG, Phyllis and Duke. They soon reached the area of the slide, Tim stopping them several feet behind the goats. They were entranced watching the seals, now playing in the water as well as on the rock. Even using the camera, they didn't spot any shark fins, and hoped the predators had moved on. When Gibbs heard the sound of rocks falling, big rocks with lots of noise, he moved them all back onto the goat path and sure enough, the goats bleated and ran ahead of them. The four men hurried along the trail and didn't stop until they'd reached the center of the island.

"That area is now off limits. I'm not losing any of you to a damn rockslide while you're looking at seals! In fact, stay off the entire rock field on the eastern side here."

Ducky opened his mouth to say something but seeing the look in Jethro's eyes, shut it again. There was plenty of island for them, no need to take any unnecessary chances.

It was a quiet quartet that returned to the cavern. Tony and Ziva, who were preparing dinner that evening, looked up as the others came into the common area.

"Did you see the seals, guys?"

Ducky answered, "Yes, we saw the seals Anthony; however, that whole area is now off limits as there was another landslide while we were there."

"A landslide, are you guys all right?"

Tim nodded, "Yeah, Boss heard the rocks and moved us back and then the goats took off back onto the path."

Tony and Ziva's eyes went wide at the thought of a fall off that rocky cliff. Gibbs nodded at them, "The entire eastern side is now off limits, DiNozzo, David. It's unstable and I'm not risking any of us."

The two muttered compliance as Mitas brought up the camera, "I got some great shots, want to see?"

The mood lightened as Mitas thumbed through to the newest photos. Tim realized as he was looking at them with the others that he hadn't downloaded any of their island photos onto his laptop.

"Hey cooks, how long until we eat?"

Ziva replied, "About 30 minutes, Maghee."

"Ok, I'm going to set up my laptop and start downloading photos off the memory card onto my laptop."

Gibbs spoke, "You won't erase them from the camera, right?"

"No Boss, just going to put them on the laptop as well. I'll make separate folders for the crime photos and the fun stuff."

Gibbs gave a small smile and patted him on the shoulder. Tim loaded the photo card onto the laptop, stopping to make folders for the Rogers' photos, including a subfolder for Wong, and one titled "Island" and then started sorting the photos. By the time dinner was served he had copies of all the good shots and had cleaned out the not so good ones. After they ate, they had a little slide show, looking at all the island shots on the much larger laptop screen. Ducky was pleased that they ended the afternoon on a high note - looking at their photos - rather than getting bogged down in the four of them having been so close to a landslide.

It was Tony's turn for entertainment that night; this time he'd picked the movie, "Joe Versus the Volcano", starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. As always when it was his turn, by the time he was done they all felt they'd seen the actual movie.

Work continued on the boat, Gibbs estimated another week, ten days at the most until they were ready to move the ship to the bay to install the mast. Once it was raised, both the solar powered engine and the sail would be tested. And once Tim was satisfied with the solar testing and Gibbs with the sail, they would start their journey home. In the meantime, after the mast was attached the ship could be returned to the cavern if necessary, but the mast would have to be unstopped, that is taken apart, to do so. Gibbs sincerely hoped that would not be necessary.

It seemed, however, that Mother Nature had other ideas about their departure date and all thoughts of moving the ship to the bay were put on hold as storm after storm swept across the island. None reached the fury of the hurricane but each was powerful enough to stop them from moving the ship. Now moved from the narrow channel into the main cavern bay, the Big Fish weathered the storms well. Its crew worked hard to stay busy when the weather kept them below the island. The goats and chickens arrived a few times to claim sanctuary. They amused the crew by heading straight to their former pen; luckily there was still a surplus piece of metal handy to act as 'barn door'.

Taking an inventory of their animal friends, they counted 14 goats, 10 hens and 5 roosters. The ship's animal pen/coop was designed for 5 goats, 4 hens and 2 roosters, so that would leave a decent population behind on the island. When they worried about the animals' future once they returned home, Gibbs told them he had a few people he knew who could take them. When he finally disclosed the existence of his father to Tim, he added that he thought the elder Gibbs would take the chickens as he had a chicken coop in his backyard. Two other possibilities were two former Marines and old friends, one with a ranch and one with a large farm.

While they were stuck below during the winter storms, daily fishing became the norm for each of them and Gibbs taught Mitas how to smoke the fish so they would have always have that if their other supplies ran short on their voyage home. For weeks and then months the storms raged over the island and kept crew and ship in the cavern, safe but not on the voyage home they'd planned to start. On days when it wasn't stormy or not as stormy, they bundled up and moved up top for fresh air and fresh food. If there was any hint of sunshine, they would set up the solar chargers so their oven, laptop as well as other items would continue working. Before they'd moved the assault craft into the body of the new ship, Tim and Gibbs had torn out the heater in the bunkroom. Tim rebuilt it so that it ran off solar power and they had used it to great success in the cavern when it was chilly. Not only did it provide a more even heat, it helped save their supply of wood. Eventually it would provide heat for their quarters on the new ship. The Solar Power team had also built the grow lights Mitas had suggested and the plants had been re-potted in the containers they'd live in on the ship and brought down below. The group was currently enjoying the fruits of the gardeners' labors as potatoes, fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, pinto beans and the rest were used to flavor and supplement their daily fish and eggs. Mitas taught each of them how to make skillet bread and how to bake bread and cakes in the solar oven.

Now that the heavy physical work was done on the ship, they had to plan their daily exercise and activities. On good days between storms, they walked or ran on the island and swam in the cavern bay until Ducky declared it too cold. On bad days, they walked or ran up and down the stairs, practiced the yoga Ziva taught them and danced to the tunes on Tim's IPod. Gibbs taught them some wood working skills. He showed them how to make a plaque, similar to the one he'd crafted for Crewman Wong's grave. Using the skills he taught them, they made a slightly larger one to hang on their favorite coconut palm when they left. Together they made a wooden figure they called Lady Liberty for the prow of the ship. She was unpainted raw wood who only vaguely and then only if you squinted, resembled the Statue of Liberty, but she did have character. They'd used the children's paint they'd found to paint her; taking the inevitable pictures, knowing the paint would likely be gone before their first night at sea. Amazingly, marine paint was one of the few things they'd hoped for but never found in either Flotsam or Jetsam coves.

When Tim got 'stifled' in writing the chronicles of their time on the island, he asked them for help and each of them came up with little bits here and there to include. After that, they started getting into it and whether on their own or working with Tim, each person ended up writing pieces from their own perspective. Together they helped Tim so that the story would reflect all of them.

They'd just been finishing with the ship in mid-January. They had celebrated the last piece of interior framing on January 28th. On the 30th, they'd officially christened the ship "Big Fish" and hung a banner they'd stitched with the name. The mast raising had been planned for January 31st. Since then, they'd watched Groundhog Day, the Chinese New Year, Lincoln's Birthday, Valentine's Day and Washington's birthday come and go. Ash Wednesday brought forth tales of Mardi Gras from Ducky and Mitas, with the doctor's stories including his Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

All of that came and went and still the storms raged with rarely more than two or three days in between. Gibbs decided they needed to learn the motion and routine of the ship, so he had them move their mattresses aboard, as well as anything else that would be difficult to move once the ship left the cavern bay. Ziva's bunkroom was the only one with a decorated metal door, but the others all had doors of one kind or another. Mitas hadn't wanted a whole door, confessing to being a bit claustrophobic, so he had made a curtain door which fastened at each side but stopped a few inches short of the deck, giving him fresh air. Gibbs had made doors for Tony and Tim out of carefully placed scraps of wood, their names painted on the outside. Ducky had found an interior door in Jetsam Cove so he had that and using the kiddie paint, had painted "The Doctor is In" on it. Gibbs' door was a present from the crew, another metal ship's door they'd found. They'd made a wooden plaque that read "Captain" that they attached before presenting the door. He was touched when they showed it to him, he'd known they were up to something but was content to let them surprise him.

It was nearly St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, when the group realized there had been sunshine for three days straight. This had happened before and each time they'd had hope that the good weather would hold, only to have those hopes dashed by an incoming storm. They continued their good weather routines, keeping an eye on the north, the source of most of their weather misery, getting their clothes washed and dried, catching as much sun as they could.

By the fourth day, they started packing, by now having it down to a science. As always Tim reminded them of the time they'd need to raise the mast and test everything. As he was packing while he said this, his words carried little weight. They were already sleeping aboard; their clothes and personal belongings were already stowed away in their bunkrooms. When they'd moved aboard, Tim and Gibbs had installed the solar heater. They'd continued to cook and eat in the cavern and generally used the 'bathrooms' in the cavern during the day. Food, dishes, cooler and various and sundry items would now be packed and brought on board. They had planned to leave the nuclear warhead, the cause of everything that had happened in the last five months, until last, but Tim and Ducky had been discussing it and came to the conclusion that one or two extra days on board were not likely to make a difference in their overall health. So now, before they took the ship out to raise the mast, Ducky approached Gibbs and proposed they move everything heavy that would be difficult to move onto the ship once it was in the bay. Surprisingly, Gibbs agreed, having been thinking about this himself. Ducky and Ziva volunteered to bring the warhead up from its resting place in the back of the cavern bay. Ziva had not yet handled it, and was approved. The other four had quite an argument with Ducky before Gibbs gave in, knowing just how obstinate his old friend could really be. They would suit up and bring the warhead aboard just prior to taking the ship out for the mast raising. In the meantime, the galley cabinets and the two bath tubs were brought on board and secured.

The fifth day found them holding their collective breath as they peeked out the cavern entrance. The sun shone in all its glory and Gibbs looked at them, "This is it. Time to bring the warhead aboard; we leave as soon as that's done. " Ducky and Ziva suited up and headed for the back of the bay to bring their grim prize out from the depths. Although he'd considered leaving it behind, Gibbs knew that would just cause more problems down the road.

Grinning, the rest of them grabbed what they'd need for the mast raising, most of which was already aboard ship, had been for weeks. As they were essentially moving out of the cavern, all their hygiene supplies, buckets, the table, bench and chairs were brought on board and their now former living quarters, bathrooms, pillar room and every other corner of the cavern were checked for any of their belongings.

Tim was the first to spot the air bubbles moving toward the ship and got down on the ladder, ready to help grab the chest that housed the warhead. Ducky passed it up to him while Ziva scooted onto the ladder with her half. Helping hands grabbed the chest and soon had it resettled in the most secure place on the ship, a well that had been built specifically to hold it. In the meantime, Ziva and Ducky changed into dry clothes. Gibbs ran the monitor over the two of them and the rest of them at Ducky's insistence and found no problems, all their numbers were good.

Finally all were aboard, grinning at their Captain. Gibbs smiled back at them, "Remember we're not leaving for home today! Have a lot of work ahead to get the mast, solar panels and sail up." They nodded, they'd verbally drilled each other for months now on the steps they were about to take, they were as ready as they'd ever be.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven

Anchors Aweigh?

Powering up the engine from the former assault craft, now the heart of the Big Fish, they motored out of the cavern and headed south. Tony and Tim exchanged high fives while Mitas shook his head. He'd bet the guys Gibbs would head north as they had in the past. Tony and Tim insisted the boss would want to check out the landslide they'd narrowly missed being part of, as well as Seal Rock. Knowing that everyone needed a turn at the helm, Gibbs summoned Mitas up to the Pilot's Tower. Gulping, the man took his turn, going slowly by Seal Rock and being greeted by dozens of barking seals. While Tony stood as co-pilot with Mitas, Gibbs and the others lined the starboard side of the boat, looking at the two gaping holes where the landslides had carried everything in its path into the ocean below and of course taking photos. They passed that point and headed around the southern tip of the island, Ziva relieving Mitas. They continued past Southern Beach and remembered the fun they'd had there. They'd returned to the beach a few times on nice days, but had never had a repeat of the joyous day in the sun they'd had that first time. Tony took the helm as they turned away from the beach and headed toward Dead Man's Bay. He brought the ship to a stop at Gibbs' command and the anchor, enhanced with materials found in the coves, was lowered. They were here, they were ready.

Insisting on a photo to commemorate the day, they set the camera on its timer and got everyone in the shot. Then, the camera neatly tucked in Ducky's pack, they got to work. The black container, shoved aside by Ducky to get at a piece of rope their first foray into the coves months ago, had been cut into sturdy pieces and attached to the deck, providing the base plate for the mast. They attached their pulleys and ropes to the mast and following Ducky's calls, raised it and then held it in place while Gibbs and Ziva guided it to the plate and set the temporary attachments that, along with bracing, would hold it while they put the permanent fasteners in. Gibbs finally admitted he was happy that Tim had ignored him and put together the solar powered tools they were using today. They weren't pretty, nothing like the sleek models found in the stores, but they worked just as well. The mast braced, the crew got to work helping with the permanent installation. When it stood, straight and tall, they let out a spontaneous cheer. Ducky had taken several shots of them installing the mast and was quite proud of the photos of the four men, shirts off, muscles glowing and Ziva, at the base of the photo, tongue between her lips, powering in the fasteners. Now that it was done, Mitas lay flat on the deck and got the whole mast in one shot. Wouldn't look like much to anyone else, but for them it was a photo that defined determination and ingenuity.

Gibbs allowed them brief minutes, two to be exact, to admire their handiwork and then nodded to Ducky, who was Chief of the Boat today, calling out orders. The lines were already on the mast, now they affixed the sail and raised it, keeping their fingers crossed that they'd gotten each piece right. It was as close to perfect as it could be without a true pattern and the ship almost immediately strained at the anchor, the sail ready to grab the wind and take them away. Ducky ordered them to lower it again until they were ready to test it. In the meantime, Tim was working with the solar panels. All of the engine work had been done and tested as well as it could be without the actual ship moving; now he attached the leads from the panels to the ship's stack of 8 batteries, with four in storage as spares. They would test the sail while the solar panels charged. Once he was done with his work, more photos were taken and then Ducky issued the command he'd practiced for weeks, "Raise anchor."

Tony and Mitas, grinning, answered, "Anchors aweigh, aye sir," as they raised the anchor. Gibbs nodded, and Ducky called out the next step, "Set the sail."

This was Tim and Ziva's cue to haul the sail again and now they did, answering the order, "Sail set, sir!" They punctuated their response with sharp salutes to Ducky and Gibbs. Both of the older men grinned at the responses from their crew, enjoying it as much as they were.

Gibbs was at the helm and Mitas grabbed the camera for the first shot as the sails caught the wind and moved out of the bay. They took turns at the helm, each having their photo taken as the Big Fish had its maiden sail around The Rock. They learned how to apply the various sailing lessons they'd been taught over the winter. As it was still early, Gibbs nodded to Ducky and he took the helm, heading due west for a few minutes while Gibbs and the crew checked every inch of their ship. It was, of course, shipshape. As planned, they spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon getting familiar with the ship moving on the ocean. Mitas and Ziva fixed lunch and they ate in shifts as they would do once they truly got underway.

They had moved the cistern to the ship during the last long break in storms and had been using the largest metal tub as a replacement cistern on the island. Yesterday they'd filled the ship's cistern and Gibbs was gratified to see that the new wooden cover kept the water inside the former hot tub quite well. By 1500 Tim declared the batteries charged for testing and they lowered and secured the sail. He threw the switch he'd installed to bypass the fuel tank and the engine came to life. They did another tour of the island, again taking turns at the helm as each would do their share of piloting. As they passed the north cove, they heard bleating and looking out, saw GG, Phyllis and Duke, now fully grown, watching them. Tony waved, telling Mitas at the helm, "Look they're afraid we're leaving without them." Mitas snorted, returning his attention to the ship, the water and the island. Gibbs and Tim had adapted the radar system from the assault craft for use on the Big Fish and it had worked perfectly, showing them the range of Seal Rock and the outcropping of rock off of Dead Man's Bay as well as shoals at the North cove.

All in all, it was a successful day and the crew was eager to hear the final word on their departure date. The animals would have to be gathered and placed in their specially built portion of the ship. There were also other things on the surface of the island to be handled. The garden shed had already been moved aboard and was now repurposed for use in the bathing room along with their supply of towels, soap and toilet paper. The bathtubs were already in place, as was the barbecue. It was taken apart as only the bowl and cover would be used. They'd set and secured it inside one of the metal tubs on deck. Storing wood to take with them had been another challenge. However, once Tim had perfected the solar oven, Mitas had been less reliant on the fire pit for cooking and they scoured the coves and the entire island for wood to take with them. The small stove top on the assault craft burned fuel and it was one thing Tim had not managed to convert to solar power. Although the Big Fish could run on fuel, their plan was to use sail and solar, which meant what fuel they had left could be used for cooking. Nevertheless, it wasn't all that much and Mitas had raised the topic of bringing more wood so he could cook on the grill over the fire pit/barbecue if necessary.

They had no coal to burn. Although they'd hoped to find bags of charcoal amongst the flotsam they had not yet found any. So they hoarded wood. They broke up pallets and took down loose branches. Gibbs had been spotted examining one of the pine trees, but when Ducky pointed out that green wood not only does not burn well but smokes like crazy, he gave it up. Over time they had accumulated a tidy pile of wood and if the journey was truly only a few weeks, they would be fine.

The garden fence had already been dismantled and returned to Flotsam cove and the posts cut up to be part of their wood hoard. The animals had moved in to eat whatever was left once the plants had been removed to the ship. The metal tub that currently served as the cistern would be taken back to Flotsam cove before they shipped out. They'd visited Crewman Wong's grave after the hurricane and found the plaque was still in place. It had been drilled into a flat heavy rock placed on top of the grave and so had remained intact during the storms. Ducky and Gibbs had considered taking the body home but decided that would be up to the Navy, they had done enough. Photos of the grave had been taken for Wong's family and they hoped the respect they'd given the murdered sailor would be evident.

The smaller boats, the two rowboats and the inflatable raft, were outfitted with the outboard motors that had been Gibbs' first surprise. They were used on a daily basis to travel from ship to shore and were now secured to the upper deck; their final use here would be to transport the goats and chickens to the ship. The small motors on each boat had independent solar panels, so if they had to be used as lifeboats, the motors would continue to work. Additionally, Gibbs had managed to find enough material to build two chests that would hold bottles of water, food, blankets, those invaluable 'dorky' sunhats Tim and Ziva had found their first day coving, tarps to provide shelter from the elements and extra clothing. Each chest was on board the ship and would be installed into the rowboats, now referred to as their lifeboats.

While they had used most of the canned goods originally found on the assault craft, they had found so much more in the coves that there was no danger of them starving on the way home. Ducky had lectured them about the need for Vitamin C and they were now well aware of what foods they needed to eat every day. Indeed, one of the last things they would do before they left would be to collect all the fresh fruit they could find.

Tim and Jethro had not had a great deal of private time together after their spectacular 'test' on the assault craft and their one starry night, but they'd found enough small moments to continue building their relationship. Ducky helped them and Mitas too had conspired to give them a few minutes alone here and there. They had started to make plans for their lives together. Tim figured their first night home would be spent with family, his grandmother and Sarah. Gibbs thought it possible that his father might want to see him. He also expressed concern that Tony, Ziva and Mitas not end up alone those first nights. Tim agreed, Tony's father was an unknown quantity, Ziva's father never left his country and Mitas…well, his brothers would gather but it might take time. As for their NCIS family left behind, they didn't even know whether Abby and Jimmy would still be at NCIS. While Abby had always loved her lab; 'her' Gibbs and 'her' team were always first in her heart and Gibbs was afraid she would have found continuing to work there too painful. Jimmy was in medical school, he may have found other employment after losing his mentor. Then too there was the worrying factor that Abby knew too much about Chimera. Gibbs didn't think Abby would have been in physical danger, but he worried about her nonetheless. Jen could take care of herself, always had, but Gibbs wasn't entirely sure he trusted her to also take care of Abby.

Tim and Jethro's life together would really begin their second or even third night home after making sure everyone else was taken care of. When Jethro worried about Ducky, Tim just grinned and told him not to worry. Penny would be there for both her grandson and her Donald. While she and Ducky's mother, Victoria, weren't the best of friends, he was sure they'd found a way to stay connected over the last few months.

Gibbs had been mulling their departure in his head throughout the afternoon. Everyone could use more practice time at the helm, but he also knew that 'on the job' training worked best for this crew. He had a muttered conversation with Ducky, another one with Tim and came to a decision. They would take tomorrow to get everything secured, erase as much of their footprint as possible from the island, and get the animals aboard.

The goats would follow Tim and Tony aboard the rowboat in two trips, they'd already been on the smaller boats a couple of times and the guys didn't think it would be difficult to entice the nannies or the older billy goat aboard. The chickens might be a little trickier but would be transported in the coops they'd live in onboard. They'd made them 'portable' so they could carry the hens and roosters aboard in them and then the coops would be sturdily fastened in the animals' compartment.

Once the critters and everything else was aboard and the island clear of any of their debris, they'd remain anchored in the bay overnight and then leave on the next tide.

Everyone's weapons had been cleaned, checked and re-checked. To further Mitas' training, Gibbs had taught him how to use a gun, loaning the young man his backup weapon. Ziva's knife training had helped train Mitas' eye and aim well enough so that the additional weapons training was not as basic as Gibbs had feared it would have to be. Somewhere along the line, the Team Leader had acquired a box of blanks and he used these to train Mitas. Tim helped him draw a target and attach it to one of the trees the farthest from the animal lair. Tim acted as spotter to make sure none of the goats or chickens were around while they were shooting. Gibbs was satisfied as they settled in for their second to last night here, that the young man would be able to defend himself if problems arose.

As they dropped anchor in the bay, Gibbs looked at the island. While there had certainly been some challenges, he'd found his love here and some measure of contentment. Wishing for one last walk with his Tim, he looked around and found the man watching him, a mischievous look in his eyes. "Tim, I'm going to head over and do a walk through, see what we need to do tomorrow. Will you come with me?"

"Sure Boss."

As they passed Mitas on the way to the rowboat, their friend said softly, "Two hours until dinner and you could bring some fruit back for dessert."

They nodded as they lowered one of the lifeboats and dropped the ladder over the side to board it. They motored in, not wanting to waste any of their precious time together and were on the shore, up the trail and on the surface of the island within minutes.

Tim found himself missing the ATV. It was not going home with them, they had taken it back down to the spot where Mitas had found it and left it. Without even speaking about it, they now headed north to 'their' cove. When they tucked themselves down in the corner, where they'd been the first time here, Tim surprised Jethro by removing an 'emergency' blanket from under his shirt. They spread it out and the two men sat, side by side. As usual, they knew they had limits, however they had always found ways to pleasure each other and this evening was no different. Shirts came off, pants were hastily removed and their mouths, lips and tongues were soon engaged in loving and pleasuring each other. After each had found release, they cuddled together, talking softly of their plans for their lives together. They hoped Tim would eventually be able to openly live with Jethro. Jethro was already talking marriage and Tim had asked him to slow down, referring to an earlier conversation they'd had about Jethro rushing into things, especially marriages. While Tim also wanted marriage, he knew they would face a few challenges when they got home. They were going to have to tell the team, the Director, Jethro's father, Penny and Sarah. He felt he had nothing to worry about with his family as he had no intentions of contacting his parents. Director Shepard would likely let all the families know of their homecoming and if Tim's parents contacted him, fine, but he would not initiate the contact. Furthermore, Tim pointed out that his family already knew he was bisexual.

Jethro laughed and told him how his father had been the one who had taken him aside in his early teens after finding him with magazines and pictures of both men and women. He'd told him he was probably bisexual and what that meant. He told Tim he hadn't known then how lucky he'd been to have such a forward thinking parent.

They drowsed and dreamed in the late afternoon sunshine, talking about their future. When Tim's watch alarm beeped, they took quick dips to rinse off any evidence of their loving, dried each other with Jethro's undershirt, folded up the blanket, stomping it nice and flat and then tucked it under Jethro's shirt this time.

They were just walking past the palms when they remembered to look for fruit or coconuts for dessert. They stopped to pick berries, putting them in Tim's sunhat. They reached the ship with just a few minutes to spare before Mitas banged on the pot for dinner. The others were happy to see the berries as it had been awhile since they'd had any and with the latest batch of fresh cream ready that day dessert would be a double treat.

However, the real anticipation at the table was for the announcement they expected from Gibbs. He waited until everyone was through eating and then nodded to Mitas, who banged on the pot. They were like little kids at Christmas, grinning at each other, even Ducky. Gibbs waited a couple of beats and then said, "Day after tomorrow, we sail with the tide."

Even though they'd been expecting it, there was still a fair bit of commotion. He waited until everyone had calmed down and continued, "Tomorrow we check everything, ship and shore, one last time. Pack out our trash; try to make our footprint as small as possible. Gather any wood we've missed," he paused as they chuckled, "and as much fruit as we can bring aboard. Let's milk the nannies and gather eggs in the morning and then bring them aboard in the afternoon. I know you've been working on the new chore chart, it goes into effect tonight. Who's got it?"

Ziva raised her hand. "All right, Zeever, let's go ahead and post it in the galley."

She nodded, "Yes Gibbs."

"We have tonight and tomorrow to make sure we're shipshape here. Anything you want to change in your bunkroom, bring aboard or return to shore," and here they all turned to look at Tony who had insisted on bringing a storage tub full of shells aboard, "that needs to happen before we raise anchor day after tomorrow. Questions?"

There was quiet and then Mitas laughed, "Anyone want to come coving with me tomorrow…last chance!" There were some chuckles and some thoughtful looks. Gibbs shook his head, "Sure, go coving, once we're done with our work. But whatever you find, it had better be something for your bunkroom or that we need on the ship. Wood, food…you know the drill." They nodded.

They'd continued their routine of reading aloud each night although since the storms had passed they'd been doing without a cozy fire. Tonight Ziva continued her reading of the Jules Verne book she'd found in the footlocker. She'd enjoyed it so much she decided to share it.

While she read, Gibbs imagined that he had Tim in his arms, the two of them wrapped up in each other as they listened to Ziva.

Tim was having much the same thought, wishing he was sitting on the deck leaning back into Gibbs' strong legs.

Ducky was listening with half an ear as the book was an old favorite of his; his mind wandered to his Penelope, telling her he'd be home soon.

Tony tuned in and out while Ziva read, he was looking forward to being home, getting back to work and civilization. At the same time he was thinking about what treasures he might find coving tomorrow.

Mitas was, as usual, watching the others while he listened to Ziva's lovely voice read the old tale. While he still found these people endlessly fascinating, he had grown very fond of each of them and his thoughts were centered on getting home and perhaps going back to his studies in the DC area. Realistically he knew he probably wouldn't have a big part in their lives since they all worked together and he was not in law enforcement, but he thought he'd like to try it. He and Ducky had talked about the possibility a few times and the older man had offered him a place to stay until he got squared away.

That is, as long as Ducky still had a home to go to, something each of them would have to face. Tim, Ziva and Tony knew their apartment homes would have long been rented out to other tenants, the best they could hope for was that some of their possessions had been kept.

Tony often wondered if his father had been told of his 'death' and what affect, if any it had had on the senior DiNozzo.

Tim was fairly certain his grandmother and sister would have kept much of his book collection; however he supposed his record albums were long gone.

Ziva accepted the fact that Mossad would have simply packed up her apartment and shipped everything to Israel. She was relatively certain it would still all be sitting at her father's house in the packing crates should she go looking for it.

Gibbs wasn't too worried about his house. Even if they'd been declared dead, his will would likely still be tied up in probate, the house sitting empty. He halfway hoped Abby or Jimmy were living in it then canceled that thought since he wanted Tim to move in right away. That couldn't happen if either their lab rat or autopsy assistant were squatting in his home. Tim would still have to rent an apartment to keep up appearances, but they could split the cost.

As Ziva ended a chapter, she looked up and saw that Mitas was really the only one focused on her. She smiled, seeing the faraway looks in the eyes of the others. Gently closing the book, she sat and waited.

"Oh, Ziva my dear, thank you, goodness, I got so caught up in my thoughts!"

"You are welcome, Ducky. Sometimes it is pleasant to let your mind drift along, yes?"

"Yes, my dear, quite right. Well, I think I will be heading off to bed. Good night all."

The others answered him and the rest of the group slowly dispersed. Soon only Tim and Gibbs remained on deck.

"Know what I was thinking of while Ziva was reading, Boss?" Gibbs frowned, but supposed Tim was smart to use his work name.

"No, Tim what was it?" Tim scooted closer to him and whispered, "I was wishing I was sitting on the deck, right between your legs."

Gibbs swallowed and whispered back, "That's funny; I was having pretty much the same thoughts. It won't be long now, love. We'll sit out on my back deck and watch the stars and be as close as we want to be."

The pair sat in companionable silence for a few minutes and then headed off to their bunks, their very separate bunks.

Mitas didn't even have to bang the pot the next morning, everyone was already at the table by the time breakfast was ready. He did it anyway since it was their last day on the island, the last time he'd bang on the pot. Once they sailed, they'd be eating in shifts rather than together and shifts meant some would be sleeping while others were eating. He'd thought about that last night and planned a very special dinner for this evening.

Breakfast over and cleanup complete, the group dispersed to their daily chores about the ship. They regrouped within an hour to head back to shore. The day was as beautiful as the last few had been and Gibbs was feeling good about their departure.

They finished their work on the island within just a few minutes. Mitas, Tony, Tim and Ziva announced their intent to go coving. Tim and Ziva wanted 'their' cove, Flotsam, and since Ducky and Gibbs were not interested in any last minute treasure hunting, Mitas and Tony were quite happy to hunt in Jetsam cove. Ducky and Gibbs had brought their bamboo fishing poles over from the ship and they announced they were going fishing in the bay. Continuing their protocol, each group had a WT with them. Gibbs further pronounced that if one person couldn't carry whatever 'treasure' he or she found, it wasn't going back to the ship.

Tony nearly ran down the trail to Jetsam cove while Mitas stopped at the trailhead to look out over the debris field. With all the storms, there was a lot of change and Mitas was glad they'd taken everything they'd wanted while the weather was still good. He surveyed the cove and saw some interesting looking things on the south end, so headed down that way. In the meantime Tony had headed to the north end to take a look at the mass of things. When they'd sailed past here yesterday, he'd spotted a couple of interesting looking items and now located them. He'd have to do some surface hopping, that is, hopping from floating object to floating object but he thought it would be worth it. However, he first arranged for backup; he headed to the south end to tell Mitas his plan. The cook was intrigued and decided he would spot for Tony. He followed him back to the north end and watched as the older man, as nimble as one of the goats, hopped from object to object.

Finally reaching the first object he'd spotted, he tugged at a door handle, tied a bit of rope on it and then carefully returned to shore, towing it by the rope. It was quite large but it was buoyant enough to float which made his towing it a little easier. When he got about halfway back to shore, Mitas met him and together they towed it in. It was a storage shed, quite a bit larger than the one they'd used for holding their gardening tools. The doors were rusted shut and the two men tugged, pulled, kicked and tugged some more until one of the doors suddenly moved in its track. One open door was all they needed.

When they had it open, Mitas started laughing. When he could eventually speak, he looked at Tony and said, "Looks like the island has come through for us again, Tony, one last time!" Tony nodded, still amazed at the neatly tied bundles of wood inside the shed.

He picked up the WT and called Gibbs. "Boss, think you might want to reconsider the 'one person one carry' rule."

"What'd you find, DiNozzo?"

"A shed full of wood, already cut."

"You kidding me?"

"No Boss, Mitas says the island came through for us at the last minute."

"Sounds like it, ok, Ducky and I will be over to help carry."


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, my apologies if I haven't answered them all. Real Life has kept me rather busy recently. Also a big shout out to everyone reading this story, hope you're still enjoying it! We're not done yet but they've built this ship, they're going to have to take it somewhere at some point. Aren't they?

Also, I made some changes in the chapter after my beta put her OK on it, so errors are most definitely mine and not Ms. Harmonfreak1's!

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Chapter Twenty Eight

Operation Big Fish

Ziva and Tim headed straight for Flotsam cove and happily explored the 'new' stuff. Ziva brought several boxes to shore and then started opening them. She wasn't looking for anything in particular but was happy when she opened a box that had a beautiful comforter in it, one that she could use on the ship and at home, wherever that ended up being. Another box gave her some zip-up sweatshirts and she put them aside as they would better fit the men. She ooh'd at her next find, a beautiful Armani leather jacket. She believed it was the same style of jacket Tim had worn before Abby unfortunately had had to cut a patch off to test for radioactivity. She thought this one was his size, so tucked that in the box with her comforter.

Tim was just having fun poking around. He found a metal box about the size of the black container they'd cut up for use on the ship. The padlock was gone so after lugging it up to the shore, he pulled at the top until it popped free. As he looked at the wide variety of contents, he suddenly understood this had belonged to someone traveling or moving. He looked on the outside and then the inside, but found no identification. There were 2 boxes inside, neither of them had any identifying marks or labels either. Inside the largest box he found a canvas bag and inside that he found men's clothing, towels and sheets, some nice blankets and a couple of pillows. Inside the smaller box he found prescription medications in pharmaceutical bottles and two small jewelry boxes. Opening one of those, he found a gold wedding band. Opening the other one, he found a second gold wedding band. Both were sizes usually worn by men, so Tim assumed whoever this had belonged to had been on his way to get married. Or perhaps he was the jeweler. He tried one of the rings but it was too big on his ring finger. The other one fit, however, and he tucked both rings back in their boxes and put them in his pack, feeling a little guilty but not knowing how to find whoever had lost these. There were no inscriptions inside, so perhaps the man had purchased them intending to have them inscribed.

He took the prescriptions and put these in his pack as well, thinking Ducky might find them useful. They had enough clothing, so he left that, although he did take the socks and one of the warmer sweaters for Mitas. Towels and blankets they could always use and they'd not seen a pillow since they left home. There were only two but Tim decided Gibbs and Ducky should have them.

He put the towels, blankets and pillows back into the large canvas bag he'd found them in. Looking around for Ziva, he found her folding something into her pack with something very pretty lying beside her. Shouldering his pack and picking up the canvas bag, he walked over to her. "More treasures?"

"Yes, what did you find?" He told her about the container and almost mentioned the rings, nearly biting his tongue to keep the words in. She didn't know about Jethro and him, not yet. He showed her the towels and blankets and her eyes lit up, "Oh good, more towels, I hate having to use the same one all the time."

Tim thought about that, "What do you do at home?"

"I have three sets of towels that I rotate during the week."

"Oh."

She laughed at his face, "Never mind, Tim, it must be a thing for women, yes?"

He shrugged, smiling, "Whatever you say, Ziva! Now what did you find?"

Still smiling, she unfolded part of the comforter and showed him. "That is beautiful, Ziva, that'll keep you nice and warm on the ship and at home."

"Yes, I suppose it is my desert blood, but I am frequently cold at night."

Leaving the canvas bag, Tim went back to the container, put everything he hadn't taken back inside, closed the lid and shoved the whole thing back toward the water. As he turned to return to Ziva, their WT squawked. It was DiNozzo, with news about the wood. Tim looked around but he didn't see anything else they could use to help carry the wood. She was just putting the comforter back in the box.

"Ziva, hang on, I have an idea. That was Tony, they found a lot of wood all cut and bundled for us. How about we put your comforter in my canvas bag, and then take the empty box to help carry some of the wood?"

"Good idea, Tim." She untied the drawstring holding the bag closed and looked inside. "Ooh, pillows."

"Yeah, but there are only two."

"I do not think the comforter will fit in here."

"Um, yeah, let's take the pillows out then, and put the comforter in. We'll tell the others about the pillows and if someone wants them, they can come get them."

"I like your thinking." Between the two of them they managed to stuff the queen sized comforter into the canvas bag. Tim wondered how heavy it would be but it wasn't far to the bay trailhead, he could handle it. They both shouldered their packs and Tim lifted the bag and found it wasn't heavy at all. They left the pillows lying on top of a box on the beach and with Ziva carrying the empty comforter box and Tim the canvas bag headed up the trail.

When they reached the trailhead for Jetsam cove, there were bundles of wood stacked neatly and Tim spotted Mitas moving up the hill with more bundles in his hands and pack. Ziva saw Ducky and Gibbs coming from the bay, wearing gloves and thought this was likely not their first trip. Tim loaded up their box, Ducky took the canvas bag and Gibbs and Tim picked up the box of wood. Mitas smiled at them all when he reached the top. "Hey there, here's more and Tony's bringing up the last of it."

"Good job, Mitas."

"While you're all here, we found two pillows in Flotsam cove. We didn't have room to bring them back, but if anyone wants them, they're on the beach."

"Two only, Timothy?"

"Yeah, Ducky, it was a container about the size of that black one we cut up and it had some other interesting things, but only two pillows."

By that time, Tony was on the trail up, so they waited for him. When he reached the top, Tim mentioned the pillows to him and he nodded.

"Thanks. Does anyone else want them?" Since there were only two, none of them felt they should claim one. Ducky did hesitate, however. "They would be good to elevate a limb, if that was needed."

Gibbs smiled, "Tony, why don't you go with Ducky and get the pillows, we'll get the wood down to the bay and into the boats." While DiNozzo and the good doctor headed to Flotsam Cove, Gibbs and Tim carried the box of wood down to the bay. Mitas followed, carrying the canvas bag and Ziva carried several more bundles of wood. The rest they'd left for the other two to pick up on their way. Gibbs didn't want to load either of their lifeboats down, so they loaded each one lightly, then climbed in and made the short trip back to the ship. They offloaded and then returned for the rest of the wood, the canvas bag, and the rest of the crew. It took them three trips to get all the wood aboard but no one complained as this would be well worth the effort.

Once they had all their treasures aboard, Mitas fixed lunch with Tim helping him. They'd found a large number of eggs that morning so Mitas made an egg, spinach, onion, parmesan cheese and sliced potato dish that he baked in their solar oven.

As they gathered to eat, Ducky remarked, "I believe this would be called a "Joe's Special" at home, Mitas."

Gibbs quipped, "Yeah, but out here, it's a Mitas' special." Mitas grinned in appreciation while the others dug into their meal.

After they ate, they stashed the wood away, Tim gave everyone an additional blanket; Ziva handed out the sweatshirts and showed off her comforter. She held back on Tim's jacket, deciding to wait until they reached home and surprise him with it.

Taking Mitas aside, Tim handed him the socks and sweater. "Hey, thanks man!"

"You're welcome, better hide the socks from Tony, he's getting tired of his tube socks!" They both chuckled at that. Tony's proclaimed love for tube socks had waned a bit after having no choice but to wear them as long as they'd been on the island.

Ducky and Tony had been the cleanup crew for lunch. When the two men were through, Tim followed Ducky into their quarters. "Ducky, found some other things in that container that I thought you might find useful."

"Oh, what is that Timothy?" Tim opened his pack and carefully removed the bottles of prescription medications. "I didn't look to see what all of it is, figured you'd know and if it's nothing we'll ever need I guess we can toss them."

"Ooh, Timothy, I have worried so about this!" Ducky held up two bottles. "They're antibiotics, I used most of the cream I had on the traitor. Now I can do something if someone gets a bacterial infection."

"Geez, Ducky, I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, that's good."

"That's because you're not a doctor, my friend."

"Ducky, can I talk to you about something else? It's something else I found and I feel kind of strange about it."

"Certainly, lad, come on in here and shut the door and we'll pretend we have some privacy."

Tim smiled, "It's weird being in a closed room after all this time, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm glad Anthony thought of adding the latches so we can keep our doors open if we want."

Tim nodded and reached into his pack, drawing out the two jewelry boxes. "I found these in the container and there were no tags, no name or address or any kind of identifying mark on the container or anything inside."

He opened the boxes and showed the rings to Ducky. "Oh, they're very nice, Timothy, what do you…oh!" The older man looked up with some concern at his young friend.

"For the future, Ducky, not right away. We need to get home, get settled, let everyone know, keep building our relationship and then we can plan. But I'll hold onto them until then."

"But you are feeling guilty? I don't understand."

"It's not as strong as guilt, I just feel strange taking them."

"Is there any way you can find out who they belonged to?"

"No, not without doing pretty much a global search and even then there would be no way of proving who it was."

"Then I believe you should take them, dear boy, otherwise that gold will sit there in the mud and silt at the bottom of the cove for all eternity."

"Thanks Ducky, I just…I guess I needed to talk to someone about it."

"Anytime, my boy!" Ducky opened the door and they both walked out, the older man happy to have the antibiotics, the younger one feeling more at ease with his find.

Back on deck, Gibbs was pacing. They'd finished their chores on the island, they'd had some fun coving, and all they had left to do was to bring the animals on board. He wondered if everyone was as excited and as impatient to be going as he was. And where was Tim? He wanted to talk with him; he really just wanted to have him close to him. He always felt better when his Tim was with him.

He turned as his lover and Ducky climbed up on deck. "Well, Jethro, are we ready for the animals?"

"Thinking it's time, Duck, don't see any reason to wait any longer."

Tim smiled at him, "This is it then, we have dinner tonight, a good night's sleep and then we're on our way!"

Gibbs smiled back at him, seeing the happy anticipation in those beautiful green eyes. "That's it."

"Ok, Boss, so let's go!" That came from Tony and looking around Gibbs saw they'd all gathered.

"All right, you heard the man; Operation Big Fish is a go!" The four younger ones grinned and raced for the boats. Taking both lifeboats, they quickly reached the shore and made the boats secure. On their return with the goats they were sure to have their hands full and didn't want to have to mess with the boats.

They found their three near the goats' lair. Nanny and Billy were nearby, grazing in the warm sun. Nanny was used to them and held still while Ziva slipped the rope collar around her neck. Billy wasn't so sure but after a few sidesteps and attempted head butts, he too had a simple collar around his neck. GG, Phyllis and Duke merely watched, and when the older goats were led by the rope, the three followed without any problem. They took them down to the boats. Tim climbed into one of the boats, Tony into the other one. GG & Phyllis hopped in with Tim while Duke chose Tony's boat. Nanny and Billy joined Duke. Ziva climbed in with Tony, to control the older goats while Tony was maneuvering the boat back to the ship. Mitas joined Tim and played with GG & Phyllis while they too motored back.

When they'd planned this, they'd discussed various ways of bringing the animals on board. The chickens would have to be carried in their coops, so it was the goats that were under discussion. They had a gangplank, and thought about using that but it was meant to fasten to a dock and there was no dock here. Two other methods remained, to have the goats climb the ladder or to make one of Gibbs' now famous rope nets, and bring them aboard that way. The ladder was vertical, straight up and down, flat against the ship and as much as goats are rock and mountain climbers, none of their human friends could visualize them climbing that ladder. Now as the two lifeboats returned to the ship with their goaty friends, two finally woven rope nets were lowered to begin hauling the goats on board. Tim and Tony had vaulted up the ladder to help the hauling while Ziva and Mitas remained in the boats to keep the animals calm and coax them into the nets.

The transfer went smoothly with the three younger goats as they were used to the humans and seemed to treat this as a new adventure. Nanny also did fairly well, however Billy bleated piteously the entire time. He calmed when he reached solid ground, i.e. the deck, and followed Tim along with the others as they were led to their new quarters. Fresh grass had been cut and was scattered on the floor. Their cabin had been made to be as much like their island lair as possible and within minutes, the five goats were munching on the grass.

That was the easy part. Now they had to tackle the chickens and that was going to take some tricky maneuvering to get them into the cages and back to the ship. Once they were safely in, the doors of the cages would be latched open so they would always have the freedom to move about their cabin. Tim had teased Gibbs about having 'free range' chickens, only theirs would be 'sailor' chickens, their range would be the upper deck. Gibbs had responded that it was his fault, he'd been the one to bring up having the goats tow them home and now they had both sets of critters with them. In reality, Tim thought that had been Tony's sarcastic idea but he let it go.

The cages had been left on the island near the chickens' habitat, with the hope that they would become familiar with them, possibly even nest in them. Only one of the hens had done that so far. Since they were bringing several hens and a couple of roosters, they'd have to do this in at least two trips.

After some squawking and flapping from the hen he'd approached, Gibbs managed to get her into one of the cages. When Tony had one in his hands at the same time, they changed their game plan and put the second one in with the first and shut the cage door. They'd transport them any way they could and let the hens sort out who took what coop later. Tim got his hands on one and Ducky helped him get it into a cage. Ziva was right behind him and then Mitas. Only one remained to be moved and finally Ducky clucked while Gibbs grabbed. Mitas had of course brought the camera and got the perfect shot of the two older men with their hen. So they had their 6 hens, but no roosters yet. Gibbs had put some thought into getting the roosters, they would follow the hens but they might put up more of a fight. He'd brought both pairs of leather gloves along, just in case. Those roosters never had a chance. One minute they were looking for their hens and the next minute they were in cages. It took two trips on very crowded boats, but eventually the chickens were in their cabin with their goat friends. The coops were secured in the racks built especially for them, the doors opened and latched so they would not close accidentally. And then the humans got the heck out of there so the critters could settle in on their own.

Finishing that task completed their pre-departure list. The group gathered on the upper deck for any further instructions. Gibbs looked at them and grinned, "We're all set, guys and gal, we set sail on the tide tomorrow morning at 0600. Mitas, let's have breakfast together one last time, say at 0515? "

Mitas nodded, "I'll have the coffee, the potatoes and eggs going, Gibbs."

The rest of them smiled; while there had been pancake, oatmeal and even an island version of French toast breakfasts, their original breakfast fare of fried potatoes and scrambled eggs was still their favorite.

Mitas looked at Gibbs, who nodded. "I've got a special meal planned tonight and I could use Ziva's help." Ziva smiled, she loved helping Mitas cook, each had taught the other different recipes and cooking tips.

After discussing the duty roster for the next week and giving a written copy to Mitas to post in the galley where no one could miss it, Gibbs dismissed them. Tim hung back to ask Gibbs a question about the roster. No one had blinked an eye when it seemed that Gibbs and Tim were paired as first and second or vice versa at helm duty that first week. Gibbs' explanation, ready if anyone asked, was that each of the three more experienced helmsmen, Ducky, DiNozzo and him, would be paired with one of the 'newbies', Tim, Ziva and Mitas. Gibbs really hadn't thought Mitas needed to have helm duty since he already had a fulltime job feeding them, but Ducky had advised him to go ahead and schedule him or the young man would feel he was shirking his duty.

Now Tim drew Gibbs up into the pilot's tower. There were no hidden corners here, the tower had wide windows, but at least it gave the two men some privacy to talk. They spent a few minutes talking about their future plans and what they would do during their first private night – or day – together. Gibbs was hopeful his house was still his and Tim would unofficially move in with him, as they'd talked about many times. While NCIS was a civilian agency, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was enforced in the Navy and Marines and could possibly affect them.

While Gibbs and McGee were in the pilot's tower, Mitas was making Ziva's mouth drool with his special menu. They would serve fresh spinach salad with a little fresh corn and chopped water chestnuts. The entrée would be pasta first cooked and then sautéed with olive oil, fresh tomatoes, generous chunks of canned ham, Italian seasoning with extra garlic and parmesan cheese. That was to be accompanied by cheesy breadsticks baked in their solar oven. For dessert, they would serve everyone's island favorite, fresh berries covered in whipped and slightly sweetened fresh cream, one last time.

Mitas gave his 'sous chef' for the night her assignments and the two of them got busy in the galley. It had been enlarged from the original galley on the assault craft. Along with the two burner stove top that could be used while the fuel lasted, it also boasted a decent sized countertop for prepping, a solar operated refrigerated box to supplement the original refrigerator and tiny freezer, the solar oven, a "fire pit" consisting of a metal tub with a screen cover, secured to the deck, and the table, bench and chairs found on their first foray to the coves, now fastened to the galley walls and deck.

Mitas grinned to himself, he'd thought his last time 'banging the pot' had happened earlier, but he would do it again tonight and for breakfast tomorrow. It seemed he wasn't the only one with mixed feelings about leaving their island. Yes, he'd be glad to get home and yes, they'd had some very scary experiences here, but he'd miss the fellowship he'd found with these people and the freedom of the island.

Their dinner was a huge success, every scrap was eaten with pleasure and there were multiple offers for the cleanup. Gibbs and DiNozzo won a coin toss and Tony nearly burned his tongue licking the skillet used for the entrée. Gibbs thought of giving him a headslap but since he'd wanted to do the same thing not so long ago, he gave the younger man a pass.

The group was restless, so Ducky asked Tim to play some music, hoping they'd burn off their energy with dancing. They danced to one of their favorite playlists for over an hour before they stopped. Then in the dark, they sat on the deck in the warm night air and Tim read them the beginning chapters of another favorite book of Gibbs, a western. He read for an hour and then seeing sleepy eyes, stopped for the night.

Having worn themselves out, they all slept well and were wide awake, excited, hungry and ready to leave when Mitas banged the pot at 0515. As happy as they were to eat together, they finished in record time, all pitching in for the cleanup. And then, it was time.

All hands on deck, Ducky issued the first order, "Set sail." Mitas and Tim raised the sail, reporting "Sail set, aye."

Ducky turned and reported to Gibbs, who was in the pilot tower already. "Sail is set, Cap'n, what are your orders? "

"Pilot McGee, report to the pilot tower. Chief of the Boat, you may continue your preparations."

"Aye Sir."

Pilot McGee headed for the pilot tower while Ducky gave his next order: "Raise anchor."

Tony and Ziva brought the anchor aboard and reported, "Anchor aweigh aye."

The sail caught the wind and the Big Fish nearly leapt out of Dead Man's Bay, eager to begin its journey home. Tim was at the helm with Gibbs very close behind him, his hands ready to guide Tim if needed. The ship maneuvered easily and within minutes they were on a westerly course away from their island, sailing toward home. Gibbs hadn't been altogether certain everyone else was as eager to leave as he and Tim were. Now he was gratified to see the crew on the prow of the ship looking forward, rather than aft looking back at the island.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

On the Big Fish: Sailing the Ocean Blue

They sailed until the sun set and then switched to the motor. Ziva and Ducky relieved Gibbs and McGee at 1400 and the two men headed to the galley for coffee and lunch. Tony and Mitas took the third shift at 2200 and Gibbs and McGee again at 0600. They thought they would move to one person shifts once everyone had more experience but wouldn't make a decision until they had a few days of real experience under their belts.

The days and the miles went swiftly. The chickens were quite happy on their "deck range" and the goats did quite well too. Nanny and the hens kept producing their products, much to the relief of the humans. Those humans were busy maintaining the animal pen as well as the ship, not to mention daily fishing for meals for all of them. The plants fared well with the grow lights and Ducky was quite happy with everyone's consumption of Vitamin C bearing foods. By the time the first four days had passed, every living thing aboard had settled in nicely. The weather cooperated so that the solar panels were always fully charged. Still, they traveled under sail for a few hours each day, to give everyone practice and to preserve the charged batteries. Although they had had to sit out the winter storms on the island, it was still early spring and they knew the good weather wouldn't last forever.

They ran into unsettled weather on the 6th day which continued off and on for two days. It wasn't stormy enough to be concerned but now they stuck to the sail. Everyone was sure a larger storm was on the horizon and didn't want to use their batteries unnecessarily. They also kept close watch on their radar system, but had not seen any other vessels. If anyone did approach, they would raise their American flag. If no one approached, they'd likely wait until they drew close enough to the longitude and latitude of US waters to raise it.

They didn't run into the big storm they had expected until halfway through the second week of their voyage. By then they had adapted to life on the ocean, working and eating in shifts, rolling with the ship in the waves. The animals were not only doing well, they seemed to be thriving and GG had given birth to two baby goats, who were named Tilly and Alfie by popular vote.

Tim's seasickness remedies continued to work well. Other than the hours he and Gibbs worked together, they had very little private time. That is they had the time, but there was very little privacy on the ship. The toilet room, the storage compartments and the plant nursery were really the only private places and none of those was conducive to a romantic tryst. However, knowing they were on their way home to a new life helped their attitudes considerably. All of them aboard turned out to be good sailors; Mitas did an occasional turn at the helm but he enjoyed cooking so much for his very appreciative shipmates that he didn't worry when he wasn't scheduled. As a group, they continued their nightly gatherings, sometimes using the fire pit, sometimes not, for reading or a movie presentation from Tony. Tim continued his 'Chronicles' and the others contributed bits and pieces as they thought of them.

It was now the 4th day of their second week and it dawned quietly with an ominous cloud cover. Ziva was on early morning piloting duty; she took one look in the dim light and called down to Gibbs. He was in the galley having coffee and came up that way, across the upper deck. He noticed the increase in the wind as well as the dark clouds. Tony followed him up and pointed out that the clouds didn't resemble the ones Tim had seen on the island before the hurricane. Gibbs nodded; he was glad for that distinction. He gave the order to 'batten down the hatches', meaning the animals and everything loose needed to be secured. Then he noticed that none of the chickens were out and about. That was a strong clue right there. Even during the recent unsettled weather, the chickens and goats had not shown any reluctance to be on deck. He called down to Mitas in the galley to secure everything there and make sure Tim, who had had the shift before Ziva last night, was secure in his bunk. They'd added strong netting to each bunk to ensure none of them would be thrown out during rough weather.

They were pretty well secured when the storm kicked in. Gibbs and Tony had relieved Ziva and sent her below through the interior hatch. Mitas had saved her a plate of breakfast and she sat in the galley and ate that along with a cup of tea. She realized how rough it had become when her tea started sloshing back and forth in her mug. Ducky came through and gave them each a piece of ginger root, suspecting this storm was going to make even the strongest sailor green.

The sail was down; they would rely on their solar powered batteries for the duration of this storm. The two pilots struggled at times with the wheel as the ocean tried its best to wrest control from them. Tim, having woken with the first few rolls of the ship, climbed up the interior hatchway ladder after a couple of hours to give each pilot a break. Gibbs went below for a coffee, he only stayed for a few minutes before heading back up and letting Tony have a turn. Tony hadn't been drinking coffee, he'd weaned himself off during the winter storms on the island when he and Tim decided to revert to their original plan, but tonight he treated himself to a coffee with cream and sugar.

Tim hadn't had any ulterior motives in coming up to give the guys a break, but it was nice to spend some time with his lover. Not having any idea how long DiNozzo would be gone, they kept the conversation general and their hands and lips to themselves, but they did enjoy the unexpected time together. Tim and Ziva were both doing well enough at the helm to stand a watch alone, although one of the other more experienced sailors seemed to be awake during most of their watches. And they were only a WT call away, none of them slept heavily enough to miss the squawk.

Tony stayed below long enough to enjoy his coffee and use the head. Feeling refreshed, he headed back up, ready to battle Ol' Poseidon once again. He climbed up the ladder to the tower, finding Probie and Boss driving the boat while deep in a discussion of the demotion of the planet Pluto to a dwarf planet. He was surprised, having not realized that the boss's interest in astronomy extended to planets and stuff like that. If the boss hadn't been the Boss, he would have thought he was a geek, but he knew better than that.

The storm had calmed a bit when Tim went below with a warm feeling from spending time with his favorite guy. Mitas had made oatmeal for breakfast and left it in a warming pot, Tim helped himself to that and a piece of cinnamon toast. While he wasn't feeling sick, he decided to treat his stomach with caution. Oatmeal and toast would be bland enough and the cinnamon and sugar on top wouldn't hurt. He avoided the orange flavored juice but had a bit of the apple juice he found in the fridge. One of the last finds in the cove before the hurricane had been a carton of juice boxes and most of those were apple juice, although some were grape and some the orange flavor which only DiNozzo seemed to like. He added a little sugar to his oatmeal and sprinkled some raisins on top then poured a little milk fresh from their goats. He ate slowly, enjoying his food and knowing that eating too fast could cause upset for him. He spared a thought for his favorite sprinkled doughnuts and then realized he didn't miss them at all. He'd made himself a cup of ginger tea and sipped that slowly, savoring the warmth. Once he finished eating and washed his dishes as well as the coffee mugs left behind by Gibbs and DiNozzo, he decided to go back to his nice cozy warm bed. He'd only had three hours sleep and Ducky wouldn't let him work if he didn't get at least six hours.

The doctor was a lot stricter here than he was at home and Tim, Tony and Ziva had come to the conclusion that the older man was enjoying really wielding his authority. There was no disappearing home at the end of the work day and escaping the doctor's vigilance. On the ship, as on the island, he knew exactly what each of them had eaten and how much sleep and exercise they'd had. Tim knew from what Jethro had told him that Ducky paid even more attention to his habits than the younger ones, but he didn't seem to mind. In reality, Tim thought they were all healthier than they had been when they stepped foot on the Chimera all those months ago. They ate three healthy tasty meals a day instead of takeout or vending machine food, they got plenty of exercise, fresh air and sleep. Tim and Tony were no longer coffee addicts, although Tim did occasionally enjoy a cup of Ducky's tea, which had plenty of caffeine. Gibbs had by no means quit drinking coffee but his consumption was down to approximately a third of his pre-Chimera habit.

Tim wandered back to his bunk and crawled back under his still warm blankets and was asleep as soon as his head hit the bundle of clothes he was currently using as a pillow. He was awakened three hours later by a scraping and bumping sound and he jumped out of bed, throwing his clothes and shoes on and running into the galley. Mitas was there, eyes wide.

"Did you hear that, feel that?"

"Yeah, felt like we scraped something. I'm going to check the forward sections and then go below." As he started forward, Ziva came into the galley, "I will go with you, Tim. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, yes?"

"Good idea, Zi. Mitas, I think Ducky's still asleep. If you'll stay here, we'll check things out as best we can." Mitas nodded, feeling a little calmer now. McGee and David worked their way forward checking each compartment and finding no damage. The goats were bleating and the chickens nearly screeching as the sound and movement had scared them, but their compartment showed no visible internal damage. The plant nursery/storage room next door also showed no visible damage although that took them a bit longer to determine as a bag of potting soil had spilled and they had to move the dirt aside to check for damage. After checking the forward section they went back through the galley letting Mitas know the lower deck was next on the list to be inspected. First they took a close look at the hatchway up to the pilots' tower and found nothing amiss. Climbing cautiously down the ladder to the lower deck, they found no water leaks, but there was a bulge in one of the walls of the interior hull. Since part of the hull was a piece of metal from a shipping container, they could only imagine what the outer hull, made of teak, would look like. They took a photo of the bulging wall and carefully searched the rest of the lower deck, not finding any other visible damage.

Ziva remained below while Tim once again climbed up through the interior hatch to the tower. He found his shipmates with four hands on the wheel, although the winds and current had died back a bit.

"Boss, I have a damage report."

"Go."

"We found a bulge in the inner hull on the lower deck, section D5. No seepage, it seems to be holding. We haven't found any other damage."

"Ok, D5 is the section with the shipping container material, right?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Damn, if that's affected, I don't want to think about the outer hull. Ok, Tim, alert the others, we'll need to find somewhere to hunker down for repairs."

"Aye, Captain." Tim hadn't done it deliberately but his experience as the son and grandson of naval officers had kicked in, and his response had been instinctual. DiNozzo started to smirk but Boss's demeanor hadn't changed so he lost the smirk.

"Boss, it's almost time for your relief."

"Ducky and Ziva…I don't think so Tim. In fact, we could use your muscle power up here with us." Tim swallowed, _this was worse than he'd thought. First the damaged hull and now Jethro admitting they needed help_.

"Ok, let me call down then." He called the galley to find Ducky and Ziva there with Mitas. He updated them on the situation and let them know Gibbs and DiNozzo would be staying on duty and he was joining them. Ziva started to protest but he heard Ducky cut her off, having understood very well what was happening.

He ended the call just as the wind and waves returned with a vengeance and he spent the next few hours helping keep the ship afloat. By late afternoon, the storm had blown itself out – or gone on to torture some other part of the world – and they started looking for a suitable piece of rock to anchor off of for repairs. During the brief breaks in the storm, Ducky, Ziva and Mitas had alternated checking on the damaged hull and still reported no water seepage.

Luck was with them as before nightfall they found a suitable island with a deep bay. Motoring in, they anchored and the exhausted trio was ordered by their doctor to stand down. Ziva, Ducky and Mitas stood watch during the night as their shipmates slept soundly.

By 0900 the next morning, everyone was awake and fed. The first order of business was to inspect the damaged hull and the rest of the ship. Since the part that was damaged was below water level, Ziva, Tim and Tony would be diving to do the inspection. They suited up, carrying their tanks and spear guns to one of the lifeboats. Mitas would be their spotter. They lowered the boat and then climbed the ladder, passing their tanks down to Mitas who had hopped in the boat first.

Once they were in the lifeboat with him they helped each other with the tanks and then motored around the ship to the damaged section. Since they had no underwater camera, they'd have to rely on their own eyes, trained for observation. They also had a measuring device with them. One by one by one, they slid into the water. As the water was still murky from the storm they turned on their headlamps to better view the damage. It was not extensive but it was severe. Looking at it, Tim thought the whole section would probably have to be replaced. Ziva reached out to touch the outer portion which was scrunched quite badly and pulled her hand back quickly. Tony saw she'd been cut and let their red buoy pop up, meaning diver injured. As they were swimming Ziva to the surface, she was bumped by a dark shadow in the water and Tim knew; he just knew it was a shark. Ziva was twisting, clearly she'd been injured. With one hand each on Ziva, Tim and Tony readied their spear guns. Mitas reached for Ziva just as the shark latched onto her, closing its massive jaws around her leg.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

On the Big Fish: Repair Island

As Mitas pulled Ziva into the boat, the shark fighting for its prey, Tim and Tony shot the creature pointblank with their spear guns; it released its jaws and sank. They climbed into the boat as Mitas called for Ducky. Keeping his wits about him, Mitas tore his shirt off and wrapped it around Ziva's calf to stem the bleeding. He kept the pressure on with Tim's help while Tony drove the boat around to the ladder. The three of them got their injured crew mate up the ladder with Gibbs reaching down and plucking her out of their hands. Ducky was waiting with a tarp laid out on the deck for her. Their friend was laid down gently and following Ducky's instructions, the younger men began helping him quickly and carefully cut away the diving suit from her leg.

Gibbs brought blankets and Ducky made them all turn around while he got the diving suit off of her. By that time, Ziva's wound had bled through Mitas' shirt. Tim had always hated the sight of blood but he never thought about it this time, this was his teammate, his friend and she needed his help. The two younger agents held her down while Ducky administered what little he had in the way of anesthetic and then began cleaning the wound; gently probing inside to assess the damage. Without any modern technology the doctor would have to use his years of experience to determine the extent of the damage. When Ducky began the cleaning, Gibbs ran down to the bunk room again and found his leather gloves; they would be something for Ziva to bite on through the pain. Poor Ziva had abandoned her usual stoicism to scream in pain and was grateful for the gloves.

Once Ducky had thoroughly cleaned the wound and finished probing the damaged tissue, he began suturing it. Tony and Mitas helped him, having put on disposable gloves they held the lacerated edges of skin together. Tim held Ziva and her leg still while the doctor stitched. He put 100 stitches in, overlapping them and then covered the wound again with another 100 stitches. The bleeding trickled to a stop as the doctor put the last stitch in. Gibbs was holding Ziva in his arms, soothing her as best he could. Ducky looked up, "Mitas, I think I need that bottle of vodka now."

Mitas looked surprised until Ducky explained, "I want to make sure we kill every possible germ from that monster."

Mitas ran to the galley and took the bottle down from one of the cabinets. He stopped to pick up a coffee mug and brought both to the doctor. "Yes, I suppose a small sip would be helpful for her since I don't believe I have any pain killers left stronger than aspirin."

He poured a small amount of the vodka into the cup and then handed it to Ziva. Gibbs took the cup from her and helped her sip it. Ducky waited a couple of minutes but knew he dare not wait much longer as live bacteria can grow very quickly.

Looking at Gibbs who understood, Ducky quickly and carefully poured the room temperature vodka over the wound and the surrounding area. Ziva screamed as the alcohol bit into her lacerated skin, penetrating through the stitches to her torn tissue. Gibbs held on to her. The boys held her leg still as she instinctively struggled to get away, screaming with the pain. When Ducky was satisfied, he poured a little more into the cup for her and Gibbs again helped her sip it. They let her rest for awhile, Ducky taking her vitals every few minutes. Finally, he wrapped her wound in strips of those damn sheets, again glad he'd kept them clean, and tied the bandage off well above the wound. She was allowed to rest again and when Ducky was satisfied with her vitals, Gibbs picked her up in his arms, her legs carried by Tim while Tony made sure there was nothing in their way. They made their way down into the galley and then slowly moved into the bunk room. Mitas managed to reach through the three bodies and open her door and Gibbs gently laid her on the mattress.

Ducky asked Tony to fetch another one of the sheets as he didn't want to place a blanket directly over the wound. Poor Ziva was gently covered with a sheet and then several of their warmest blankets. Ducky stood, "I will need to stay with her for a few hours, then we will need to rotate, I do not want her left alone. I'll need to know immediately if she develops a fever. We were lucky it happened so close to the ship, you boys got her to me fast enough to avoid more severe shock and major blood loss. Now we watch and wait. Mitas, I will need you to keep a kettle of warm water available around the clock in case I need to clean her wound again."

The others nodded their understanding of his instructions and left the small room, making sure to latch the door open. Mitas got the pot of water onto the burner and then found he couldn't stop shivering. Gibbs, coming up behind him, took off his jacket and draped it on the young man's shoulders.

"Ziva's the one that was bitten, Cory, but you're experiencing shock too. You need to sit down for a few minutes, son, stay warm. Here, I'll make you something warm to drink. I know you don't like coffee, how about tea?"

Mitas shook his head and pointed at one of the cupboards. Gibbs opened it and spotted the canister of hot chocolate.

"Ok, that's good, hot and it's got some caffeine. I'm going to make enough for the three of you."

Gibbs kept up a running commentary as he poured water into Ducky's tea kettle and then lit the second burner under it. While it was heating, he built a small fire in the galley's fire pit and then maneuvered Mitas around so he was facing it. He had stopped shivering so badly although he still had a rather glassy look in his eyes. "You ok for a minute? Want you to sit and relax here while I get Tim and Tony, all right?"

Mitas nodded and Gibbs hurried back into the bunk room. He grabbed three blankets from his bed and Ducky's and then found Tim and Tony still trying to change out of their diving suits, shivering with cold and shock.

"Get out of those suits now boys, here let me help. Put your warmest clothes on and then come into the galley, I'm making hot chocolate for you, got a fire going."

He helped first Tony and then Tim strip off the diving suits and got them towels to dry off. Tim was starting to recover and was able to help Tony, so Gibbs left them to dress themselves and returned to the galley. The teakettle started whistling just as he entered. He turned the flame down under the burner, then thinking, turned back to Ziva's room and whispered to their doctor, "Duck, you want a cup of tea?"

"Yes, Jethro, please and put a teaspoon of sugar in it, will you please?"

Gibbs nodded; he thought he'd have some too. Eventually the three younger men were seated in front of the fire, wrapped in blankets, sipping at their hot chocolate, Ducky had his tea and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and Gibbs joined the young men at the fire with his own sweetened tea and blanket. He wished he could hold Tim in his arms; he figured the younger man was thinking the same thing judging by his rather woebegone smile. After they'd had a few minutes to warm up, Gibbs decided it was time for their report.

He cleared his throat, "What happened down there?"

Tony responded, "We were looking at the damaged hull, Ziva reached out to touch it and cut her hand. We sent up the buoy and were helping her up to the boat. That shark must have been awfully close to us to have reacted that fast to just a little blood. As Tim and I were floating her up, something bumped her and we could see a dark shadow. Only now we know that bump was really its first bite. "

He looked at Tim, "I think we all knew right away it was a shark." Tim nodded at him. "Anyway, Mitas was waiting and alerted you guys, the shark had its jaws around her leg and was closing them to take another bite when we got her into the boat and Tim and I shot it pointblank with the spear guns. It sank right away as we were climbing in the boat after Ziva."

"Ok, you did good, all of you. Kept your heads, followed protocols, good job." Mitas' head was sunk down to his chest and Gibbs casually put his hand on the young man's shoulder, trying to give him some comfort. "Ziva's going to be ok; you know how strong she is."

The others nodded; Mitas just sat and then raised his head. "How are we going to get home, Gibbs? The ship's damaged, Ziva's hurt, we left the island, maybe we should have stayed."

"We're going to be ok, Cory, promise. Our team, and yeah that includes you - we don't give up. We'll take it one step at a time. Ziva will recover, we'll find a way to fix the damage and we _will_ get home."

The newest member of their family sat in thought and then nodded, "Ok, we've done everything else you said we would, I don't have any reason to doubt us now."

"That's the spirit. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and I'm sure DiNozzo is…he's hungry even when he's full."

Tony laughed, willing to be the object of an affectionate tease if it made the others feel better. Tim reached over and gave him a neck squeeze which told him his little brother had recognized the ploy and the response.

Mitas grunted and then stood, "How about some of Tony's soup for lunch today? We made enough for two meals the other day and I could make some cornbread."

Gibbs grinned, "That sounds good, nice and hot and tasty." He started to turn to Tim but noticed his lover was heading for the cool box.

"We have fresh cream today, so let me get the butter ready."

While the three men worked to prepare lunch, Gibbs went to check on Ziva and Ducky. His girl was still asleep although she appeared to be getting restless and Gibbs' heart ached at his surrogate daughter being in such pain.

Ducky looked up at him, "We may have to find a way to restrain her while she sleeps, Jethro. That leg needs to be kept immobile."

"Could we fix a sling, like for traction or do you really mean to restrain her?"

Ducky sighed. "Rather than restrain her, I was thinking we could somehow put weights on either side of her leg so it would be more difficult to move."

"How about if we give that assignment to the guys to figure out? With Tony's degree in Phys Ed and Tim's knowledge of science-y stuff and Mitas' common sense, I'll bet they'll come up with the answer."

Ducky's smile was rather wan. "Indeed, that's a good idea."

"Mitas is fixing lunch, soup and cornbread. Can I take your place here while you go eat?"

"Yes, but you eat first, I heard you talking with our young men, they've had a bit of a shock."

"Yeah, they did a great job following our protocols and keeping their wits about them, but once the immediate crisis was over, Mitas nearly hit the floor and our two weren't far behind him."

"Ah yes, well, Mitas is new to all this and your agents are well acquainted with guns and violence, but human violence, not animal or creatures of the sea violence. Not to mention their participation in a surgical procedure, that alone could put anyone into shock. How bad is the damage?"

"Don't know yet, thought I'd wait until they eat lunch, settle down a bit before I ask them."

"I've only seen you like this once before, Jethro, when we lost Caitlyn. You're fussing over those young men."

"Can't fuss over Ziva yet, can I? Mitas needed some extra something and the other two didn't mind."

Ducky's smile was brighter this time. "Ah Jethro, you never cease to amaze me and you make my old heart happy with your love for them."

Jethro smiled back at him, holding back his questions about the damage to Ziva's leg. That could wait; he didn't want to risk waking her with any further conversation and she should be the first person Ducky talked to about her injuries.

Smelling the cornbread, he returned to the galley to find Tim shaking the butter jar and Tony stirring the soup. It all smelled delicious and for a brief moment he was able to forget about their newest challenges. They had had some wood to spare after they'd built the ship and had brought it along with them, he hoped now it would be enough to repair the damaged hull. They also had a few spare sheets of metal and he thought they might have to use a combination of the wood and metal to repair the damage. Unless the area was smaller than he thought it was. His agents would tell him after lunch.

He suddenly realized that the animals had not yet been released to the deck. They'd decided to wait until after the crew had returned from inspecting the damage and then had forgotten after the immediate crisis of Ziva's surgery. He grabbed Tim and pulled him toward the animal pen, the younger man's eyes puzzled until he came to the same realization. They opened the pen door carefully and sure enough, were nearly hit in the face by a flying hen. The goats pushed their way out and Gibbs was glad Mitas had not yet started serving lunch as the animals clamored up the stairs to the deck. Somebody had cleaned up the medical mess, the tarp and towels had been rinsed and were hanging to dry, the pieces of Ziva's diving suit were nowhere in sight. Gibbs smirked and looked at his lover who smiled back and shrugged with a nod in Tony's direction, meaning both of them had worked on the cleanup.

Gibbs looked around the bay while he was up there. He knew he'd checked it out this morning but everything that had happened today prior to Ziva's injury had flown out of his head. It was a bigger bay than the aptly named Dead Man's Bay and with deeper waters. When they'd dropped anchor last night, it had been in the outer reaches of the bay, just on the edge. They would certainly be able to get in further. There was vegetation around the shoreline and palm trees, but he could see none of the spruce and other evergreens such as they'd had on their island. The beach was very wide and deep; he thought they could probably dig a channel, as they had in the cavern, and carefully tow the ship in to repair the hull. He was thankful it was a clear sunny day today as he knew that Tim was always concerned about their power supply. Tim had told them yesterday that they had at least another week of battery power before they needed to worry; nevertheless he knew the young man would be relieved the solar panels were soaking up the rays today.

Mitas poked his head up out of the galley. "Guys, lunch is served. Didn't want to bang on the pan, wake Ziva up." They nodded at him and headed below to eat. After he finished, Gibbs relieved Ducky so he could have lunch. Ziva seemed to be calmer now and Gibbs wondered how that had happened. When Ducky came back, Gibbs whispered his question and Ducky grimaced, holding up a prescription bottle. It was from the pack Tim had found during their last coving and this prescription was a pain medication. Ducky had cut a tablet in half, then dissolved one of the halves in a glass of water and then had Ziva, still mostly asleep, drink it. If that worked, and it seemed as if it had, then he would be able to get her through the worst of the pain. The doctor was upset that he hadn't thought of the pills earlier.

When Gibbs returned to the galley, he found it clean and empty. He headed up top and found the three young men discussing how to 'dry-dock' the ship and repair the hull. When Gibbs questioned Tony and Tim about the hull damage, Tim gave him a piece of paper with the side of the ship and the hull damage penciled in. They had also included the measurements and marked the seams of the section in dotted lines. He was impressed with his crew and made sure he told them so. When he asked them about doing the repairs, Mitas took the plunge, telling him they figured they could dig a channel as they'd had in the cavern. The challenge, especially if there were still sharks in the bay, would be to bring the ship to the channel without grounding her. They knew the draft of the ship, meaning the depth of water the ship needed to keep afloat and not run aground, but they didn't know the depth of the water all the way to the shoreline.

Tim, picking up the discussion, said they'd tossed around several ideas but could only settle on two: the first idea was that they would have to get back into the water to determine the depth; the second idea was to use some sort of weighted line to measure the depths. The top measurement would be the draft needed for the ship. They could use the lifeboats to drop the lines and measure the depth of the bay. At each drop, the line would be marked so if they had to dig a deeper channel, they'd know where to start. They'd even drawn a little picture of the line to demonstrate. Gibbs was very pleased with this suggestion, it would be laborious but he did not want to risk any more shark attacks. When he thought further about this method, he realized it was probably one of the original methods of 'sounding' or determining the depth of a body of water. He recognized the method from a biography he'd read about Samuel Clemons, known better by his nom de' plume Mark Twain. In fact marking the depths of the Mississippi River was how Clemons had arrived at his pen name.

XXX

By early evening, Ziva was awake. When she started experiencing pain, Ducky split the remainder of the medication from that one pill in halves again, and dissolved one half, which was now a quarter of the original pill, in water. While not putting her back to sleep, it did seem to take the edge off her pain. He checked her vitals, she had not developed a fever and her blood pressure was only as high as one would expect after such a frightening ordeal. The doctor was hopeful that Ziva's leg would heal without further problems. He'd checked the bandages several times while she slept and there was no seepage, another very good sign. Although she didn't feel hungry, Mitas fixed her a couple of scrambled eggs with toast, which she ate and kept down. She was not yet allowed to drink anything except water but she drank enough of that to maintain hydration. Ducky allowed her to remain awake until the pain began to build again, and then he quickly went through the same process with the pain medication, giving her half of the dosage from a whole tablet.

In the meantime, Tim, Tony and Mitas had made a strap to lie across the mattress and wind under the bunk. They'd cushioned it where it would touch Ziva's leg above and below her injury and they tested it on Tim's leg, having Ducky check it to make sure it would not cause any pain or interruption of blood flow. Ducky made a few adjustments and then approved it. Once Ziva was deeply asleep again, they attached the strap to her leg and her bed. Now her leg was immobilized and any restlessness or rocking of the ship would not cause any further harm.

The other concern that Ducky voiced was seeing to her toilet needs. Eventually she would be able to maneuver on crutches, which Gibbs volunteered to make, but for now, they needed another solution. Tim remembered the various sizes of the metal tubs they'd brought with them and Ducky agreed the smaller ones could be used as bedpans until her leg had a few more days to start healing. Tim burrowed into their forward storage compartment and found the one he'd been thinking of. Gibbs and Ducky agreed they would be the only two helping her with the bedpan.

The trauma of the shark attack still haunting them, all three of the younger men found themselves exhausted after they'd eaten dinner. Ducky had roughly calculated how long Ziva would sleep through the current dose of pain medication and so he also went to catch some sleep while Gibbs sat with Ziva. While he obviously had no real medical experience, he knew enough to check for fever, take a pulse and check her leg for any change. Tim volunteered to spell Ducky after Ziva's next dose of meds, so before he turned in, he was given the same instructions as Gibbs.

It was a quiet night in which no one slept, except for Ziva after additional doses of pain meds and Ducky for the few hours that his patient slept. Tony and Tim knew they'd have nightmares about that dark shape first bumping into and then fastening that great jaw on Ziva's leg. Mitas didn't even have to close his eyes to see Ziva crying in fear and shock as he lifted her into the boat, her attacker sliding off her bloody and torn leg with two spears sticking out of its body. Gibbs was worried about his girl and his boys, knowing they wouldn't be sleeping tonight for fear of nightmares. He watched Ziva closely, thinking how much she would hate that if she was awake and well. She'd probably threaten to kill him with a paper clip. She very rarely allowed herself to show any fear or pain and the fact that she had been screaming in pain told him as much as the sight of the jagged, bloody and raw wound.

With the pain meds and sleep, Ziva passed a relatively quiet night. Ducky helped her use the makeshift bedpan and she made little objection, knowing her usual stubbornness would do her no good. Once she fell back to sleep, Tim entered the room and curled up in the chair they'd brought in from the galley. She slept for several more hours and her pulse, temperature and condition of her leg remained the same.

The morning dawned bright and clear. Gibbs was up before dawn as usual and made coffee. He brought a mug into Tim who was still sitting with Ziva. Mitas staggered out a few minutes later; it was quite obvious he had not slept much, if at all. He went to gather eggs, Tim's usual job if he wasn't on duty, and milk the goats. When he returned, Gibbs sat him down at the table with a mug of hot chocolate mixed with a little coffee. "Here, you need caffeine if you're going to get through the day."

Mitas nodded blearily and took a sip, "Mmm, that's really good, Gibbs, what'd you do to it?"

"Just added a little this and that." Mitas nodded and sat back, letting the older man cook breakfast.

Ducky woke before Ziva's next round of medication was due and relieved Tim. Tim ate some breakfast and then crashed, too tired to worry about nightmares. Tony took Ducky his breakfast and then sat with Ziva while the older man took a break.

By the time they'd finished the breakfast dishes, Gibbs knew they would probably not be working on anything regarding the ship that day. After Ziva had woken, eaten some breakfast and eventually taken her next dose, Gibbs looked around. Tim was asleep, Ducky was with Ziva and Mitas was puttering in the galley; he corralled Tony, "Come ashore with me, DiNozzo, I need wood to make Ziva's crutches and a cane." Tony nodded as he'd slept a little more than he thought he would and figured he could handle a trip ashore with the boss.

Gibbs was trying to remember the last time he and Tony had spent any real time together, aside from their struggles with the ship during the storm and was coming up empty. Although his heart, brain and other parts of him wanted Tim's company as much as possible, he enjoyed being with Tony and felt that paternal pull. Telling Ducky and Mitas where they were going and of course taking a WT and Gibbs' toolbox, the two men launched one of the lifeboats and motored into shore. They noticed there were a lot of fish and Gibbs wished they'd remembered to bring the fishing poles.

Reaching the sand, they brought the boat up past the tidal marks and surveyed their surroundings. There wasn't any real trail but they found evidence of a dry stream bed that wound down from the surface of the island and could walk up that to reach the island proper. DiNozzo looked around, "Your gut telling you anything, Boss?"

"No, it's quiet today."

Tony huffed, "I keep expecting three baby goats to come bounding down to meet us."

Gibbs smiled at him, "Yeah, weird, isn't it? It's an island but it's not our island and we had better not be here as long as we were on The Rock."

DiNozzo shivered, "Hope not, I hate this place already. This is where we almost lost Ziva."

Gibbs put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "But we didn't lose her, Tony. She'll heal, she'll be all right."

They reached the surface of the island and again surveyed their surroundings. They spotted a small grove of trees to the north and started walking. It was a short distance as this was a much smaller island than their previous abode, really more of an islet than an island. Gibbs and Tony picked through the wood fall for any pieces that would be big enough for crutches or a cane. The piece for the cane was easy to find, Gibbs spotted it almost right away. He'd brought the large canvas sack formerly used to house his rope, and now he tucked the future cane inside of it.

It took them awhile longer to find the wood for the crutches. Ducky had helped Gibbs draw a design so he knew what he needed. He ended up using one of his saw blades to cut a limb off a tree. That was one crutch. He'd soak it and strip the bark before he started work on it. He found a fallen limb at the furthest edge of the grove that would do for the second crutch. It was a new fall, he could see the wood at the break was still supple, had not been on the ground for long. He wondered if 'their' hurricane had passed over this island and then thought not, there would have been more debris from the trees and vegetation.

Before they returned to the boat, they gathered a few coconuts and the same berries they'd loved so much on their island. Tony had his pack and had brought a covered container, hoping to find berries. They picked as many as they could, eating a few as they went. After they'd filled the container with the berries, they headed back to the boats without looking at the rest of the island.

They'd seen no sign of goats, chickens or anything besides birds and fish here. They figured with the amount of vegetation there must be fresh water but didn't stop to look. Their cistern was still full from the storm.

Gibbs put the wood to soak in the men's bathtub as soon as they returned to the ship and he'd checked on Ziva's condition. She was awake and had taken her quarter of a pain pill, so she wasn't in a lot of pain. She smiled and thanked him when he told her they'd found wood for her crutches.

As he ran the hose into the bathtub he realized he should have asked if any of the guys needed the tub today. The wood would be ready in the morning so it was just for one day. However, Ziva wouldn't be using her tub for awhile so it was available to the men.

After he set up the soak tub, he took what tools he would need and made sure they were in good condition, oiling and sharpening them as needed. He figured he'd set up a work bench on the upper deck and then frowned, wondering what he could use for that. Tim wandered into the galley, up from his nap, while Jethro was sitting with a cup of coffee and the two of them talked about possibilities. They ended up prowling around the ship, looking for things that could balance a plank of wood and would have a height at about Jethro's waist. Tim laughed as they descended to the lower deck and looked through their various stored items; they'd just closed the hatch and realized they had some privacy down here. Not much but more than they'd had since they left the island. He signed to Gibbs that they'd have to be quick and quiet, but the two of them were soon in each other's arms, getting reacquainted. Realizing they couldn't risk a mess or noise, they stuck to kissing each other passionately.

Tim signed to Gibbs how good it felt to be in his best friend's, his lover's arms again and Gibbs showed his own feelings by pulling Tim even closer and whispering his love for him. It was uncharacteristically mushy for them, but their relationship had grown from affection and attraction to love, passion and commitment. Tim knew he was as in love with Jethro as he'd been with Joey and he'd had to do some hard thinking about that. He'd finally come to terms with the fact that if Joey hadn't died, they would still be together but the tsunami had taken him away and Tim was lucky enough to have found love again. He believed Joey would approve.

Gibbs was having thoughts along the same track. He knew he loved Tim, was in love with Tim, as much as he had been with Shannon. He knew he had not been in love with the three other women he'd been briefly married to and regretted that. He wasn't worried about Tim, what they had together was on a whole different level. And yes, he knew all about the thrill of sneaking around and that they were in some sort of honeymoon phase, without the privacy of a honeymoon. That would happen; he knew it in his gut. There was no forced feeling here, no "oh well I might as well, I think this could probably work" feeling that he'd had with his ex-wives. He was certain Shannon would approve.

They took one last deep kiss and then parted, straightening their clothes and combing their fingers through their hair. As Tim turned, he spotted the remains of a container they'd used for the hull. They'd left it here for no real reason. If he remembered correctly, they'd used the side with the lid as that was easier to remove. He took Jethro's hand and dragged him over to it. They turned it so that the side with the missing door was to the deck and sure enough the height was right at Jethro's waist; with the plank on top it would be perfect. The only drawback would be that Jethro would have to do his work down here as the container had been brought aboard before the upper decks were built and it would not fit through the hatches.

Jethro thought about it and then grinning, told Tim he was appointing him assistant carpenter, they would work together to make Ziva's crutches. They spent a few minutes moving the container to a spot in the middle of the storage compartment and talking about bringing a light down here. They finally decided Tim would move their plants out on deck and bring the lights from the plant compartment down here so Jethro could actually see what he was doing. They figured he would be done with the crutches before they put back out to sea. Having decided all that, they headed back up to the common area hoping to find lunch.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty One

The Big Fish at 'Repair Island': Fins in the Bay

Mitas had fished off the ship this morning while the others were gone, asleep or tending to Ziva. Figuring everyone needed a treat he barbecued his catch and now served it with sliced potatoes fried with diced fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and green beans.

Ziva was again asleep and Tim relieved Ducky so he could eat. Once Ducky ate, he again traded places with Tim. Gibbs was still at the table, enjoying another cup of coffee when they made the trade so Tim had his man to himself for a few more minutes while he ate. Once he was done he went back to Ziva and Ducky went off to grab some sleep himself.

Gibbs spent the table time with Tim updating him on the conversation he'd had with Tony, Mitas and Ducky at lunch. The two younger men had measured out the length of rope they would need for the 'sounding' line and attached weights to it and then before cutting it, asked Gibbs to double check it. In the meantime, they'd used scraps of material, sewn into the rope to mark the highest measurement, the depth they would need for the ship to remain afloat and not run aground.

They wanted to work on the sounding that afternoon but with the ship-wide lack of sleep the previous night Gibbs declined, saying they needed sleep before they started taking precise measurements. There was too much at stake to risk any errors. An incorrect measurement could further damage the ship.

The plan was to take both boats out and do parallel measures. Ideally they'd have two people in each boat, but with Ducky taking care of Ziva, that would leave no one on board if he needed anything. Gibbs hoped that by the next day, his girl would have improved enough to not need round the clock care but that would be up to their doctor and Ziva was their top priority now and would be until Ducky said otherwise.

Tim thought about the boats and the measurements. "We wouldn't be that far away, Boss, almost within shouting distance if Ducky needed help, and we'd have the WTs on us. None of us would be in the water so we wouldn't really need more than one spotter. I think if you or Mitas went along, Tony and I could handle the measurements, leave one of you aboard."

Gibbs grunted, "I want to go with you, Tim. DiNozzo can stay on board."

Tim leaned forward and said in a low voice, "You sure you shouldn't let Ducky choose who goes and who stays? You might be showing a little bias."

Gibbs grinned back at him, "Nah, you're my numbers guy. And Mitas knows all about precise measurements from cooking and from his college classes. Thinking maybe DiNozzo can stay with Ducky. He hates this place anyway, might be just as happy to stay aboard."

Tim looked like he wanted to say more but refrained. It really wasn't his business; he just didn't want Tony to feel left out.

The rest of the afternoon went quickly. Everyone got in a few more hours of sleep. Mitas had a bath in Ziva's tub and reported that it was too small for him to sit but he got clean anyway. Explaining the boss's new workbench in the lower hold, Tim drafted the others to help him move the plants up to the deck so he could take the two grow lights down below for Gibbs' use. That task took them very little time and he soon had the lights positioned over Gibbs' work bench.

Since they'd had a big lunch and hadn't done much to burn it off, the group had a very light dinner. Ziva had been awake again and had asked to see the rest of the group. Ducky allowed two visitors at a time and for just a few minutes. She was happy to see each of them but also relieved when their visits were over and Ducky gave her another dose of the pain medication. She was still in a great deal of pain and was very thankful Tim had found those prescription bottles. As much as she did not like sleeping all the time, being without the horrible pain made it worthwhile.

Gibbs ordered everyone to bed early, no reading tonight, and he spelled Ducky so the older man could sleep while Ziva did. There were still no symptoms of fever or infection; Ducky believed one more day of vigilance would be enough to ensure there would be no such repercussions.

Ziva woke once, needing to use the bedpan and Gibbs helped her. She was too groggy to really notice who helped her and she went right back to sleep as soon as she was finished and the pan had been removed. He caught himself dozing off a couple of times but overall managed to stay mostly awake until Ducky relieved him. He went off to bed, leaving a note in the galley to wake him by 0900.

Tony woke him at 0930, with a fresh cup of coffee. They'd all slept in and had just finished breakfast. Gibbs grumbled but didn't yell; he figured he'd probably needed that extra 30 minutes. When Tony passed him the coffee, he asked him, "Boss, doing the sounding today, right?"

"Yeah, DiNozzo, after I eat."

"Boss, I know I helped Mitas yesterday and all, but…well, do I really need to be on the boats? I could stay and help Ducky with Ziva."

Gibbs looked at him and saw the look in his eyes. "She's going to be all right Anthony."

"I know Boss and I know I went ashore with you yesterday, I just…I don't want to go out there again, on that water, Boss."

"Your gut bothering you?"

"No, it's not like that, I'm not feeling danger, I just don't want to be out there on this bay in the small boats."

Gibbs nodded, "I'd feel better if one of us was aboard for Ducky and Ziva. If you're sure?"

"I am, Boss."

"Ok, then you are in charge while I'm gone, except for the medical stuff of course."

"I thought maybe I could start peeling the bark off the wood for Ziva's crutches."

"Yeah, that would be great, DiNozzo, a big help. After you get the bark off, put the wood back in the water until we get back, that way it'll still be wet enough to get the wedges in each piece. I'm going to drive those in to split the wood and then bend it the little bit I need to provide extra support and put the hand rests in."

"Ok, will do. Have you thought about what to pad the armrests with?"

"Wondered if we have any foamy material aboard? I meant to look for that yesterday."

"I think one of those pillows Ducky brought with him might be foam, Boss, I'll ask him."

"Good Tony, that'll be a big help too." Tony nodded, satisfied that he could be useful even if not being out on the boat and Gibbs was thankful that his surrogate son had come to him with this.

"Now go on, let me get dressed and get something to eat."

"Ok, Boss, see you in the galley."

Gibbs dressed and ate quickly and then checked on Ducky and Ziva, finding them both sound asleep. He smiled, Ducky was starting to relax a bit with his vigilance; that was a good sign that Ziva was almost out of danger from infection.

Tony had already told the others he was staying on board and would be starting work on the wood for the crutches. Tim felt bad at first but from the way Tony was talking, he realized his friend had no desire to go out on the boat again and was happy to be working on the crutches.

Gibbs took another look at the two lines Tony and Mitas had prepared the day before and approved them, so the lines were cut, leaving ample room for handling. The boats were lowered and Gibbs and Mitas went down the ladder, then Tim joined Mitas in his boat.

Starting from the prow, they worked their way towards the shore, keeping the two boats parallel and taking readings every few feet. It took quite a while but they wanted to make sure their measurements were thorough and accurate. They were within 5 feet of the shore when the soundings began to show a shallower bottom. Gibbs stayed at the spot in his boat while Tim and Mitas dropped a small weighted buoy. Once that marked the spot, both boats continued onto the shore as they'd brought the shovel and the trowel with them and wanted to start digging the channel they'd need. The section that needed repairing was towards the front of the ship, which would make prepping for the repair a bit easier. They measured the length and width of the channel they needed to dig and discussed how they would dig in the bay. They decided to make walls on three sides of the channel and then as they dug, they would extend the walls into the bay. That would allow them to dig to the depth they needed to float the boat all the way in. It would mean flooding the rest of the shoreline but it was only temporary. Once the bay part was dug, they'd remove the walls.

Letting Tony know that they were going ashore to look for wall building materials, they beached both boats, checked their weapons, Mitas still carrying Ziva's second favorite knife, and headed up to the surface of the island. Tim was thinking how much easier it would be if they had some explosives to do the digging for them, especially the underwater part. Gibbs was wishing there was debris on this island with some nice solid something to build the wall. Mitas was wishing they had more than one shovel, wondering how long this was all going to take.

When they reached the surface of the island, they turned south. Since it was a small island, it didn't take them long to cover the distance to the southern tip of the island. When they reached there, they looked down into a small cove and all three of them started laughing.

Gibbs said, "When we get home or you can reach the internet, Elf Lord, you're going to do some heavy duty research about flotsam and jetsam. I'm beginning to believe every island in the Atlantic Ocean must have debris!"

Spread before them in all its glory was a very promising debris field. Tim had the camera in his pack and he immediately took a picture, knowing no one would believe them without visual proof. One of the things he zoomed in on was a garage door, floating placidly in the waves. He pointed to it, "Hey Boss, whose garage door was that you fixed? Remember, oh, yeah, Michele in Intel, because it matched the style of her home. But look, you could have had a perfectly good one, just a little waterlogged, to take home." They laughed, shaking their heads at the incongruity of finding a garage door floating in the ocean in the middle of nowhere. There was no real path so they picked their way carefully down to the bay, stopping to look again as they got closer to the bottom. They could see several large containers, much smaller than commercial cargo containers but larger than the ones they'd seen and used on their island.

"Boss, if we could tow these over to the bay, they'd be all we'd need for the walls, we'd only need three, maybe four of them. Could we tow them with both boats?"

"Yeah, I'll bet we could, Tim."

Mitas smiled, "That'd be great; now all we need is more shovels!"

Gibbs laughed, "Let's go see what's inside."

They opened the few that were in shallow water where they could see the bottom and anything coming at them but didn't find shovels or digging apparatus or anything else they needed. They didn't spend a lot of time on them since these would not be the ones they'd be towing anyway. Those were the ones still floating in the bay, the farthest out. Since they were already floating, they shouldn't be hard to tow.

Deciding to try to bring one around, they headed back to the bay and their boats, calling Tony and letting him know of the change in plans. He reported all was well but was not happy that they would be on the open ocean in their lifeboats. They returned to the ship for lengths of rope for towing and to study the currents. The tide was in their favor so they decided to take the two boats around to the cove for their first container. They again donned their lifejackets and each took a WT this time. Promising they would call Tony when they reached the cove, they took off, taking the tools they thought they might need. At some point they had attached a big hook on the end of their prized broom handle and they brought that with them.

The trip to the cove was faster by sea than by land, it was really only removed from the bay by a narrow hill, really just a spit of land. They selected the first container, the one farthest out and attached the tow ropes easily enough. They made the return trip very slowly and carefully. As they eased along, Mitas, keeping watch while Tim steered, saw dark shapes under the water. He was about to shout a warning when the shapes leaped out of the water and turned into dolphins. The three men were entranced with the ocean mammals and continued watching as the dolphins seemingly escorted them to the bay. As they motored past the ship, the dolphin pod split up, one group leaping and cavorting on the port side of the ship while the other group stuck with the smaller boats and their container. They stopped when they had brought the container as close to the shoreline as possible. The water was shallow here, they could see what was coming at them and the dolphins were still with them, so they felt relatively safe. They beached the boats and got in the water to push and prod the container as far up on the shore as they could get it. Finally they were satisfied with the position of their new 'wall' and decided to open the thing.

Prying the top open, they found a small backhoe and several shovels. The three men laughed and called Tony to look out over the prow. He had been watching the dolphins and now he raised his hands in a victory salute when he saw the backhoe. Tim still had the solar charger he'd built for the ATV and he could easily adapt it for the backhoe. They were pleased this first wall was long enough to reach the edge of their proposed channel.

Having done all this, they found they were starving and headed back to the ship still watching the dolphins, soaked from their leaping and diving antics. In between the work, Tim had snapped as many photos of them as he could. Tony had fished while they were gone and had a hearty lunch waiting for them. Ducky joined them as Ziva was still asleep and was amazed at their find, especially when he looked at the water and saw the dolphins, the beach and then the container, the backhoe and shovels. After lunch, they went out again, this time Tony agreed to go with them, feeling more kindly towards the island and wanting to get closer to the dolphin pod; he believed they were good luck. They towed a second container, placed it parallel to the first one and then went back for a third one. The tide was coming in now so the water was a little rougher. It took them longer and the ride wasn't as smooth, but the dolphin pod sqee'ed encouragement, or so they chose to believe and they finally pulled that third container into the bay, placing it between the other two, closing the squared U-shaped wall.

Although Mitas wanted to start digging, Tim pointed out that the ATV charger needed some hours in the sun and he needed to adapt the engine, it would take him a few hours to do that. He missed his helper when he said that; he and Ziva had worked together on every other charger and it just didn't seem right.

By the end of the day, the containers were in place and Tim had made the adaptations to the backhoe. The charger would be ready for work in the morning. When they'd returned to the ship, Gibbs had gone to look at Ziva's future crutches and was happy to see that Tony had done a good job of removing the bark and sanding the wood. He set the wedges and left them in the wet wood, they'd be easier to split in a few hours.

When he went to find his SFA to tell him 'good job', he found him in Ziva's room with Ducky, whispering about the foam pillow and how much to use for the armrests.

When Ziva woke and was shown the photo of the new debris field, she was incredulous. She was even more flabbergasted when they showed her the next photo, with the three containers in place and the backhoe sitting up on the slope, above the tidal marks. The photos of the dolphins made her smile and she asked Ducky if it would be possible for her to see them before they left this place. Knowing they'd be there for a few more days, he promised to consider it. He had been thinking about getting her up on deck anyway, they could easily carry her and set her mattress up so she could get some fresh air and not feel so confined. Satisfied with Ducky's response, Ziva looked again at the photo of the backhoe.

She looked at Tim, "Are you going to use the ATV charger?"

He smiled at her, "Yes and it didn't seem right to work on it without your help, so I left one little piece for you, with Ducky's approval."

She smiled back at him when she saw that it was one small bolt that needed tightening. She made two turns with the screwdriver and it was done. "Thank you, Tim!"

"I couldn't let the other half of the Solar Power team not be part of this, Zi."

The others grinned; it was good to see Ziva more alert, more like herself and with a smile on her face.

After dinner, they built a fire in the fire pit and Gibbs read, speaking loudly enough for Ziva and Ducky to hear them. After a few chapters, Mitas went to check on them and came back with his finger to his lips, "They're both sound asleep Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded, "That's good because we've got a big day tomorrow, mind if we cut this short tonight, guys?" No one minded in the least. Before they headed off to sleep, they talked about the schedule for the next day. Even though Ziva would be ready for the crutches within a few days, Gibbs felt that they needed to get the channel dug and the repairs done while the weather was good. With the backhoe and the shovels, he believed they would be able to complete the channel in two days and the repair work would take another day, possibly two. He would work on the crutches in any 'spare' time.

"Can we help you with those, Gibbs? I mean, I know you're the carpenter here, but is there anything we can do along the way to help?"

"I've got wedges in where I need to split the wood and bow it a bit. The bowed open part is where the hand rests will go. After I split and bend that wood, then yeah, you guys can help. We'll need the arm rests and the hand rests cut and sanded. And once the wood's bowed and glued, each crutch will need to be sanded. I haven't thought about the tips yet; I don't know if we have any rubber pieces we can use. Tony's already found the foam rubber for the arm rests. That has to be thick enough to be comfortable; Tony and Tim know that from experience."

"Boss, we have extra pairs of those designer sneakers with us. The soles of those are rubber, we could cut those down to use on the tips of the crutches."

"Good idea, Tim, ok, you're in charge of that piece."

"I could do the cuts for the hand pieces, Gibbs, if Tony's doing the arm rests."

"Ok, Mitas, you have the hand rests then, that includes sanding." Mitas nodded.

"We can all take turns sanding, Boss."

"Yep, that's a good idea. Ok, guys, that's a great plan!" After talking about the construction of the crutches for a little longer, the four men headed off to bed. Everyone slept well that night.

The next day dawned bright and sunny. Mitas fixed a hearty breakfast and chores on the ship were quickly completed. By 08:30, the four men were ready to go. Ducky had his WT in hand; all of the WTs had been recharged since the storm so there was no cause for worry there. Ducky watched his friends lower the boats, Tim with the ATV charger in hand, and motor into the shore. The doctor had the binoculars and watched for a few minutes to see Tim work his magic with the backhoe and start the engine.

Gibbs took a few minutes to show each of the younger men how to operate the small backhoe and soon they were vying for turns. He decided to start with an hour each and he got the first hour. The others worked with the shovels and by the time it was the next person's turn, they were amazed at their progress. Gibbs picked Mitas next for the backhoe as Tim had figured he would.

By the end of the fourth hour, with Tim running the backhoe the past hour, they'd dug more than half the channel needed, including the water portion. With the backhoe taking care of the beach, the others were working their way into the watery part. With the third container effectively blocking all but the smallest fish from getting through, they were able to dig up the wet dirt and sand fairly quickly and without worrying about sharks. They weren't as fast as the backhoe, but faster than if they were doing it with one shovel and a trowel! It had taken them three days of non-stop work with one shovel, trading off every hour, to make the channel in the cavern.

They worked an additional two hours and then Gibbs decided they were done for the day. They'd be done in a couple of hours tomorrow and be able to move the boat. Since the channel they were digging had enough water to keep the keel and a few feet of the hull in water, he thought they could probably continue living on the ship during the repairs. If there were problems, they could move onto the beach and make a shelter for themselves.

When they returned to the ship, they turned almost immediately to working on Ziva's crutches. Gibbs' wedges had done their work and, once he moved the wood out of the water and down into his new work area, he was able to split the wood precisely where he wanted it and then bent – or bowed - each piece slightly to fit the hand rests and the bottom part of the crutch. He finished the structural parts of the first crutch and after waiting for the glue to dry, handed it off to Tim to be sanded. After Gibbs approved Tim's sanding job, Mitas attached the hand rest, also sanded and Gibbs' approved. Once Mitas finished, the crutch went back to Tim who glued on the pieces of rubber he'd cut from an extra pair of their designer sneakers. When the glue was dry, he cut away any extra bits. Then it was Tony's turn. He attached the sanded and also Gibbs' approved arm rest and then glued on the thick pieces of foam rubber he'd cut from Ducky's pillow. They repeated the process for the second crutch and then used fasteners to strengthen the glued parts. By the end of the day both crutches were ready for Ziva. Gibbs was very happy with his assistants; it would have taken him part of another day without their help. He also knew how happy each of them was to be able to help Ziva.

Dinner was a bit late that evening, but no one minded since they had had a very productive day. Tim reflected aloud that it was the most fulfilling day he'd felt he'd had since the day they lifted the mast and the others said they felt the same way. They figured it was because they were all working together, or mostly working together as Ducky and Ziva had not been involved.

Gibbs read at the fire pit for an hour after dinner until he yawned in the middle of a word and noticed the others were barely holding their heads up. Ducky was standing watching them with a big grin. "Go along to bed, gentlemen, I'll take care of the fire tonight, you've done a remarkable job today."

They dragged themselves off to bed and were no doubt asleep before their heads hit whatever each was using for a pillow. Ducky stayed with Ziva that night, but slept in the chair, his feet propped up on her mattress. She slept through the night with just the one dose of the pain medication, an excellent sign.

* * *

A/N: Puppypants told me about the floating garage door she once encountered while water skiing in Long Island Sound. It was too good to pass up; I had to add it in! Thanks to each of you who shared information with us about various items found far from their origin or destination. Luvable told me about a container of children's rubber toys that was lost in _1992_ and those toys are still showing up in various spots around the world. Another reviewer in Alaska told me there is so much debris from the 2011 Japanese earthquake on remote islands in our 49th state that it is endangering the habitats and lives of walruses and seals.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty Two

On the Big Fish: Stormy Weather

Dawn found Gibbs, Tim and Mitas up and preparing coffee and breakfast. Gibbs stuck his head in Tony's room to wake him up, but by the time breakfast was served he had not yet shown his face. Ziva and Ducky also woke and at Ducky's request, Tim carried Ziva out to the table, placing her gently in a chair and propping her leg on the bench and resting it on their one surviving pillow. The doctor allowed his patient some of the herbal tea they'd found, no caffeine for their wounded warrior just yet. She ate the eggs and potatoes Mitas put on her plate and even added to the conversation, asking questions about the dolphins and the channel the men were digging. When she finished eating, Ducky told her that if she rested now, she would be allowed on deck later and they would rig something up so she could see the dolphins from the deck. That earned the doctor a big smile and she pretended to put her head down on the table to start her rest immediately. Gibbs snorted at her, then picked her up and carried her back to her room, gently tucking her in. As she fell back to sleep she heard him whisper "Miss you Zeever, need my girl alongside of me just like my boys. " She smiled at him, feeling a sense of safety and warmth she hadn't felt since she was very young.

Tony finally rose and found the rest of the work crew already gone. They'd taken one boat, leaving the other one for him. He had a very quick breakfast, ran through his chores and then headed out in the other lifeboat. He was annoyed with himself for falling back to sleep but there was nothing he could do about it now. The dolphins cheered him up, they leapt and sqee'ed and splashed him on his way to the work site so that by the time he got there he'd left his grumpy self behind. Tim was on the backhoe and was having a very good time scooping and dumping the sand and dirt. The dump piles behind the containers were growing nicely and Tim remarked they would soon look like naturally occurring sand dunes. Tony made some smart ass remark about building a resort on their new dunes and they were off and running. The banter was good natured, Mitas climbed right into it with them and Gibbs let it just flow over him.

Gibbs' WT squawked somewhere along the way, it was Ducky wanting them to return for a break and lunch. They only had a little bit left of the channel to do and opted to finish first. Finally, the job done they carefully measured and re-measured to make sure their ship would be in water and not sand, rocks and mud. When they were sure, they took the boats and hooked the tow ropes to the third container. It had basically been barricading the channel and the workers from the waters of the bay, so when it was moved, the water rushed in and filled their new channel. They stopped at the five foot marker one more time to measure the depth and it was indeed the depth needed for the ship.

Smiling, they returned to the ship accompanied by their new finny friends. When they boarded the ship, they found Ducky had unearthed a hammock from storage and had found a place to string it between the mast and the pilot's tower. He planned to install Ziva in it once it was up and then she would be high enough off the deck to watch the dolphins. They made sure it was secure, the ropes all properly knotted as Tim and Gibbs had taught them. They had lunch up top and when Ziva finished eating, they did Rock Paper Scissors to see who would have the privilege of installing her in her new perch. She laughed at them; it felt so good to be back among her family and to hear her boys squabbling. Ducky had given her a portion of a pain pill and it was just enough to reduce the pain to a vague throbbing but not enough to make her sleepy. Finally the three young men decided to work together to get her situated. Mitas took the pillow and brought blankets while Tim carried Ziva and Tony held her wounded leg so it wouldn't bump anything. Once she was in place, she oohed and ahhed, having great fun watching the dolphins who seemed to be putting on a show just for her.

XXX

Rather than wait any longer, they got ready to move the ship into the channel. Tim and Tony went ahead in one of the boats, to ensure the ship was entering the channel at the right angle. Gibbs was at the helm and followed the little boat in as straight a line as he could manage. The fit was perfect and within minutes, the Big Fish was resting safely in its new temporary home, water dripping down the outer hull and exposing the damage.

Gibbs lowered the ladder and then realized he would be stepping right into the channel. Tim and Tony were still in the lifeboat and found there was enough room on the starboard side for the smaller boat to sidle up alongside The Big Fish. Gibbs grinned at his boys for coming to his rescue and stepped down into the boat. He realized then that they had led him into the channel at a slight angle so that the damaged side was accessible from dry land.

They beached the boat and walked around to the damaged section. Gibbs thought it looked worse than he'd pictured while Tony and Tim both agreed it looked less severe than they remembered. Behind them, they could still hear the dolphins playing in the bay and Ziva calling out to them.

They'd already moved their extra wood to the lifeboat and now took it out and left it on the beach, above the new tidal mark. Gibbs started measuring the damage and agreed with Tim, it would be easier to remove the entire section. They could then repair the inner hull before they replaced the outer piece.

Mitas joined them with Gibbs' pry bar and hammer and they carefully removed the damaged pieces of hull, laying each piece in the sand to dry. Gibbs would go through once they'd finished removing it all and decide which pieces were salvageable and which could be added to the wood for their fire pit. Ducky stayed on board with Ziva and the camera, taking innumerable photos of the work and of Ziva in her perch watching the dolphins and the dolphins themselves.

Tim watched Ducky's photo taking and laughed. When Tony asked him what was so funny, he replied that they hadn't needed to write anything in their "Chronicles", they had enough photos to show nearly every part of their lives since they stole away from the Chimera. With the exception of the escape from Chimera, its destruction and the horrible hours they'd spent with Chief Rogers – and Gibbs and Tim's private moments - nearly everything was photographed.

Once they had the damaged wood off, they decided to let the area dry overnight. In the meantime, they took Gibbs' hammer to the metal of the interior hull. Tony and Mitas worked from the inside of the ship and Gibbs and Tim worked on the outside. Once they got the bulge down to a dent, Gibbs worked up some sort of putty and adhesive substance and had Tim apply it to the dent. That made the surface level again and they left that to dry too. When it came time for them to climb back aboard, Ducky moved the ladder over to the port side so they didn't have to deal with the boat or water again.

Ducky made dinner that night, a delicious fish dish with fresh cream and plenty of onions, potatoes, garlic and assorted vegetables, served with homemade biscuits and all baked in their solar oven. For dessert, they had the fresh berries Tony and Gibbs had picked the day before, with additional fresh cream, whipped and slightly sweetened over them. Ziva was able to join them for dinner; Ducky swapped his chair for Tony's place on the bench so that there would be room for Ziva to keep her leg propped up on the pillow.

Tim and Tony did cleanup that night and entertained the rest of the group with their rendition of "The Sloop John B" as sung by the Beach Boys. Tony knew all the words and Tim knew the chorus. By the third verse, Gibbs and Ducky were singing along with them.

"The poor cook he caught the fits  
And threw away all my grits  
And then he took and he ate up all of my corn  
Let me go home  
Why don't they let me go home?  
This is the worst trip I've ever been on"

This verse had Mitas nearly rolling on the floor, he was laughing so hard. And by that time they were all singing along with Tim for the chorus:

"So hoist up the John B's sail  
See how the mainsail sets  
Call for the captain ashore  
Let me go home, let me go home  
I wanna go home, yeah yeah  
Well, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home"

Ziva was watching and listening to them in amazement. Never would she have dreamt that these men could harmonize in song and to such a crazy song. She'd never heard it before and was intrigued by the words. When they'd finally rolled to a stop, she asked about the song and Tony explained its history as a folk tune from 1935. When he started rattling off all the famous singers and groups that had covered it under various titles they were all impressed. Who knew?

That led Tony from lyrics to movies, of course, and the one he chose was "Mutiny on the Bounty", the 1935 version with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable. In his usual style, he told them the plot of the movie and about making the movie and when he wound down he mentioned that it was based on a true story and that descendents of the original mutineers still lived on Pitcairn Island. That was news to everyone but Gibbs and Ducky and the group demanded more. However, it was time for Ziva to take another dose of her pain medication and return to her quarters, so Tony promised more another night.

Gibbs smiled at Tim as he carried Ziva to her bed. There would not be too many more nights on board this ship. Their repairs would be done tomorrow or the day after at the latest and they could resume their voyage home. Evidently Tim had the same thoughts as his lover because he gave him a grin in return.

Eager to get the repairs done, Tim and Gibbs both turned in early that night. If Mitas or the others noticed that they seemed to be unusually motivated, no one commented on it.

Both men were up at dawn the next morning. Tim did his chores before even the roosters were awake. He came back to the galley with nearly a dozen eggs and an entire jar full of milk. He set aside the cream pan, marking the chart on the door and handed the rest off to Mitas who had risen while Tim was doing the chores assigned to him this week. He sat long enough to eat breakfast but gulped his coffee, as did Gibbs. Since the ship was as much in dry-dock as it was going to be, they went off to work on the repairs as soon as they'd finished eating. Mitas covered up the food for the rest of the group and followed them, not wanting to miss any of the fun.

When Ducky, Tony and Ziva finally stirred, it was to find a ship empty of their crewmates, although they could be heard working on the hull. Tony swore loudly as he ran through the passageway to the galley, trying to put his shoes on as he ran. He yelped when he stepped on one of Tim's thingamajigs which had somehow migrated onto the floor. Bending over to see what it was, he realized he had borrowed it and misplaced it a couple of days ago. Now it was smashed to pieces. Groaning, he picked it up and put it in his pocket, intending to 'fess up to Tim later. He reached the galley and gulped down his breakfast giving him an instant stomachache, which he ignored as he ran to the ladder, forgetting it had been moved to the port side of the ship. Swearing again, he ran across the ship and straight into Ziva's hammock, still swinging in the light breeze. He tried to fight his way out of that and got himself so tangled up he had to call to Ducky for help. The doctor came and tried to help but he was laughing so hard it took them several minutes to free DiNozzo. He _finally_ made it down the ladder and to their work site.

Gibbs looked at him, "Having a little trouble this morning, DiNozzo?"

"I swear Boss this is a Day from Hell already!"

"Why don't you go sit down and put your shoes on." As Tony limped away, Gibbs called after him, "At least you remembered your pants this time." Tony flushed, having hoped never to be reminded of that time. It had happened early in his NCIS career. Tony, Gibbs and an agent de jour, a woman who worked with them sometime between Viv Blackadder's departure and Kate Todd's arrival, had been on an overnighter to some small town in Maryland. There was a fire alarm in the wee hours of the morning and Tony had run right out into the crowd, stark naked. It had turned out to be just a drill, but the damage was done. The young female agent quit the team by the time they'd returned to DC and Gibbs had teased DiNozzo about it unmercifully – until he was able to replace it with the iguana incident at Gitmo.

Tim looked up from his work on the outside of the inner hull, sanding the putty, and sent DiNozzo a sympathetic look. Taking the rest of the coffee Gibbs had insisted he have, he took it to Tony. "Know it doesn't have your creamer or sweetener in it, Tony, but maybe it will help."

Tony looked up, "Thanks man. But I ate too fast and my stomach's really bothering me." And to prove it, he leaned over and lost his breakfast in the sand, luckily missing Tim's shoes as they had beaten a hasty retreat along with the rest of Tim. He had not, however, missed his own shoes and he threw them down on the sand.

"Boss!"

"DiNozzo!"

"I want to go home NOW."

"Working on it, Tony." Gibbs paused and looked at his senior agent, clearly having a beast of a day. If they were at the office and on a case he'd be pissed beyond measure at the man, but now he felt a twinge of sympathy.

"Go take a bath and get something to eat that won't bother your stomach and then take a nap or something. If you want something productive to do, you could start stripping that wood for Ziva's cane. I soaked it last night. Then come back here after lunch. And if you're sick, stay away from Ziva, in fact, stay away from all of us."

"Got it Boss, thanks. I don't think I'm sick, I ate too fast. Sorry I'm such a mess this morning." Gibbs just gave him a look so DiNozzo decided to go before the man changed his mind and started yelling.

Tim made a face as he dumped the rest of his coffee out into the remains of DiNozzo's breakfast. While he had escaped being hit, he wasn't sure his coffee had and he wasn't about to test it to see. He took one of the shovels and buried the whole mess, buried it deep. Gibbs just shook his head and continued working. He and Mitas had been working on the pieces of wood they'd taken off yesterday, going through and discarding or keeping each piece. Mitas had wisely kept his mouth shut at DiNozzo's troubles, having learned by now that that was the wiser choice. He would offer comfort and sympathy later and judging from the look on Tim's face, he would be too.

Tim finished his sanding, running his hand over the putty he could find no bumps. He did that a few times before he was convinced and then called Gibbs over for inspection. Mitas had excused himself for a few minutes, leaving Tim and Gibbs alone.

Tim looked his lover straight in the eye, "You want to run your hands over this, make sure it's level?"

Gibbs' mouth went as dry as the Gobi desert and he could barely reply.

"You're evil, Timmy, pure evil. Yeah, I'd like to run my hands over you, but if you insist I touch the hull instead, fine. Here…" picking up one of Tim's hands, he covered it with his own as they swept across the repaired hull, checking for imperfections in the putty. Both men were sweating by the time Gibbs got down with them.

"It's perfect, Timmy, you little devil. There will be payback for that."

Tim grinned at his lover, "I'm counting on it, Jethro." Jethro growled at him and gave him a slap on his backside, wanting to caress it instead.

"How many days home?"

"Tim, you're the one who did the calculations! Ok, maybe seven all the way to the Anacostia. But you know we'll be stopped as soon as we cross into American waters."

"Stopping is fine as long as we get to hurry after that." Gibbs chuckled at his lover's impatience.

"It'll be worth the wait, sweet cheeks, I promise."

"Same goes, lover boy." They grinned at each other; it was always such a relief to be themselves even if just for a few minutes.

They finished the tasks they were doing as Mitas came back down the ladder, shaking his head. "DiNozzo made himself oatmeal and burned it. Ducky's making him some more now. He ordered Tony to go to bed and he'll bring him his breakfast there. When Ziva heard about Tony's morning, she laughed so hard she popped a stitch, so Ducky had to redo that. Is it like this often?"

Tim tucked his lips in, he wasn't about to say anything. Gibbs just looked at Mitas and shook his head, "You have no idea. He's not a morning person so he's always in a rush and some days just end up like today although he's never been allowed a do-over before."

Tim finally spoke, "But he's not the only one, Mitas. I've had days where I've woken up late for work, had a flat tire on the way in, knocked Gibbs' coffee over and threw up on a crime scene."

"All on the same day?"

Gibbs nodded, "Oh yeah, I thought Ducky was going to kill him right then and there, thought we'd have two bodies to take back."

"Were you sick?"

"Sort of, but more from fear than anything else."

"But you threw up."

"Yeah, that was a new medication my doctor had given me for an infection and it made me sick."

Gibbs frowned, "You never told me that."

Tim swallowed his lips again, "Told Ducky; you still weren't speaking to me and you don't like excuses."

"What infection?"

Tim spoke softly, "From a cut."

"A cut you got at work?"

"Yes."

"You got an infection – and never told me?"

"Um, Boss, maybe now is not the time…"

"When _is_ the time, Tim? What else happened then?"

"You sure you want to get into this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. If we're…yeah, I'm sure."

Tim didn't know where to start, so he just started from the beginning, his sister having slipped and told the team about his book and the fury of DiNozzo and David. How he'd been thrown around in the back of the van while Ziva was driving and cut his leg, needing several stitches.

"You didn't miss any work that week."

"No, I didn't. It happened at the end of the day and Jimmy relented enough to stop the bleeding and patch me up. I saw my doctor after work. When the cut became infected, we had to try several antibiotics before finding one that worked and didn't make me sick."

"And you never told anyone this."

"You all made it clear how angry you were with me about the book."

"And you never told me this."

"They're your favorites. You would have just gotten more pissed at me."

"You had an infection from a cut that happened because one of your co-workers was deliberately driving recklessly, trying to hurt you."

"Yes."

"And you told no one."

"No, as I said, Jimmy knew. He helped when it happened and he helped Sarah with driving me because I couldn't use the clutch in my car for awhile."

"Did he tell Ducky?"

"I don't know, I asked him not to."

"Because I did nothing to stop the bullying and neither did he. Because apparently making a mistake with a book was worth risking your life, that why you didn't tell any of us?"

Tim nodded again.

"The infection in your leg?"

"Took six weeks to clear."

"What else happened?"

"What's the point? It's history."

"McGee!"

"It doesn't matter now."

"The hell it doesn't! You're a member of my team, my family, Tim… what we're becoming, what I thought we were…but you don't trust me."

Now Tim gave him his mad look.

"Yeah, I wouldn't trust me either, got it, Tim. Mitas…?" Gibbs looked around but Mitas was long gone.

"He left when you started yelling."

"I'm not, oh hell, Tim. I wish I'd known. I wish you would have been able to trust me. I am so sorry."

Tim looked at him, feeling like he wanted to yell, hit something and maybe throw up.

"Come on, let's go for a walk. We need to talk." Gibbs quietly called Mitas and told him they were going for a walk on the island.

"You guys armed, Gibbs?"

"No, other than our belt knives."

"I'll bring your Sigs down if you promise not to use them on each other."

"Mitas, I'm sorry you had to…"

"Not any of my business, Gibbs. I'll be right there." In two minutes, the man was on the ladder, passing Gibbs two Sigs. He whispered to him,

"You take care of him, he's really upset."

"I know and it's my fault Cory." Mitas just nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

"So make it right."

Gibbs nodded, walked over to Tim and handed him his Sig. "C'mon, Timmy, let's go for a walk or at least find someplace more private."

Tim was trying to push his emotions away and get numb, but it wasn't working. He didn't want to talk with his boss about this, what was the point after all this time? Hadn't they settled this book thing a few hundred times already? And he sure didn't want to talk to his lover about his lack of caring as a boss. Even though it was true and Tim had been at the bottom of the heap since shortly after Gibbs hired him.

Sighing, he also realized that their relationship was on the line here and it wasn't healthy to hold something like this back. He was suddenly very tired and like Tony, just wanted to go home. He didn't care if that made him sound like a petulant 5 year old, he wanted to be by himself, away from everyone, just for a few minutes, was that too much to ask for?

He sped up, walking away from Gibbs, up to the top of the island and then south to the small cove. He couldn't walk fast enough so he started running and then abruptly stopped, knowing he couldn't outrun himself. He sank to the ground and leaned back against a rock, closing his eyes. Soon he felt the warmth of Gibbs sitting down beside him. He wanted comfort and he was obstinate enough to not think of the irony of seeking comfort from the man who had been, by and large, responsible for his pain. Who hadn't been the leader he should have been.

Gibbs was so angry with himself, with David and DiNozzo, with Ducky, with Tim for not saying anything but that led him back to the man in the mirror. He had failed Tim and his lack of leadership had cost this gentle good soul a great deal of pain. If Tim had been able to trust him, he would have told him. There was nothing he could say or do to make it better, it had happened and he couldn't change it. When he sank down beside Tim, he was grateful the younger man had stopped running. He'd wondered how they were going to get through this, even worried that their relationship might not survive. No, that was not the point. He was their boss - DiNozzo, David and McGee - and he'd ignored what was going on. He should have known, he prided himself on his observation skills and yet he'd been blind to this and he'd let them hurt Tim. Not just emotionally, but physically. Ziva's driving was notoriously bad when she wasn't even trying; she could easily have injured him more seriously or even killed Tim. Did she know that? When she and DiNozzo had trashed him, back in the cavern, did she stop to think about the day she tried to kill him? And their relationship was built on trust, personal trust and it was growing stronger every day, both of them were involved and invested in it, it might stumble, but it wouldn't crumble.

As he sat next to the younger man, doubt, anger and self-recrimination running through his head, Tim slumped down and burrowed into him. "I can't do this by myself. I don't want to lose everything again, Jethro, I can't, I won't."

Jethro had tears in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the man he loved, the man he'd wronged.

"Please don't make this a big deal, Jethro, I can't deal with it here, I don't have any refuge, any place to go but your arms and if you're so angry…"

Gibbs suddenly understood that in trying to get to the truth of how he'd failed Tim, he had effectively isolated him and made things even worse. He tightened his arms around Tim and rocked him, rocked them both. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize, Tim. I'll drop it until we get home love, if you want, I didn't mean to make it worse."

Tim nodded into his chest, working too hard to blink away his tears to say anything more. They sat there huddled together for long minutes, Jethro holding on for dear life and their future, Tim trying to find his center, his strength. Penny had taught him some meditation techniques over the years and he was doing his best to use them now, although he was not having a great deal of success. Finally he remembered being told that it was neither a crime nor a sign of weakness to let the tears flow and so that's what he did. Jethro felt the dampness on his shirt and raised Tim's head, kissing away his tears, adding his own to the mix.

"Timothy, I love you and I'd do anything if I could go back in time and change what happened. But I can't. All I can promise is that when we get home, I will do better, we'll change things on the team, how we treat each other. I'll be a better leader, I promise you sweetheart." Tim moved his arms so that he was now holding Jethro and squeezed as tightly as he could. "I love you too Jethro and I really want us to move past this but not here and not now while we're all stuck in one place with no real personal space. I trust you to do better and now that I do trust you I will tell you when things get bad. But are you going to be ok with DiNozzo and David?"

"I'll work on it, Timmy, promise. How about you?" Tim shrugged and then scolded himself. That shrug epitomized his own tendency to bury his feelings and act as if they were no big deal.

"I'll work on it too, Jethro."

"Good man. We'll get through this, love, it's only a few more days and then we can escape and be on our own. Or you can have some time to yourself, whatever you want."

Tim gave a rusty chuckle. "Oh no, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you're not escaping that easily. We are going forward with this relationship if it's the last thing either of us does."

Gibbs grinned and then tilted his face to find Tim's lips and they re-connected and reaffirmed their love for each other. Things weren't perfect, they had issues to work out but he felt better now, knowing they could work through problems, or at least agree there were problems and that they'd work on them when they could.

"We should get back. We need to fix the damn ship so we can get home."

"If you're ready, love." Tim leaned in for another kiss and snuggle.

"Ok, ready as I'm going to be. Take me home, Jethro."

"Gladly, Timmy." With their arms wrapped around each other, the two men walked slowly back to the path and down to the bay to their ship. As they appeared on the beach, Gibbs' WT squawked.

"Jethro, are you two nearby? Mitas nearly has lunch ready."

"On our way, Doctor."

The two traveled around to the port side of the ship and found that someone had begun the repair work on the damaged section. Jethro stopped to check it while Tim went on up the ladder. He went straight to the galley, glad to find it empty except for Mitas, who turned and looked at him. He shook his head in sympathy and then pulled him in for a hug, whispering, "The bullying never stopped did it?"

Tim shook his head, "It's stopped now, Cory. Thanks, it helps to know there was one person on board who hadn't bullied or disrespected me."

Cory gave him a pat on the back, "You work things out?"

"We worked out that we're not dealing with this now. We promised each other we would when we get home."

"Yeah, I got that would be a bad thing, glad he did too. Go wash your face and change your shirt, lunch is in five minutes."

"Got it, be back then."

As Tim turned toward the men's bath, Mitas handed him a bucket of warm water. He smiled in thanks and headed off to wash away the evidence of his emotions. In the passageway, Ducky shrunk back, aghast at what Tim had said about Mitas being the only one who hadn't bullied or disrespected him. He sighed, it was a good thing they were nearly home; they all needed some serious time away from each other. Ducky started forward again, only to see a weary Gibbs enter the galley.

"Thanks Cory."

"You better stick to your word, Gibbs or you're going to have to deal with me too. I love all you guys but what I'm hearing…this isn't good."

"No, it's not but we can only fix things and go forward, can't change the past."

"Yeah, but not now."

"Right, not until we get home. Was that you working on the hull?"

"Yeah, did I get it right?"

"Yep, looks good, you're not only a partially trained Federal Agent, you're also a ship builder! Nicely done."

Mitas nodded and spoke again without raising his voice, "Ducky, will you please go wake DiNozzo and let him know lunch is ready?" The older man rolled his eyes at himself for his embarrassment at having been caught eavesdropping as he nodded at Mitas and turned to go wake Anthony.

Gibbs shook his head, he'd told Tim he'd do his best to deal with everyone but right now he wished they'd all have their lunch in their quarters and let the rest of them eat in the galley by themselves. That gave him an idea, "Mitas, how about coming up top to eat? We might not have this great weather all the way home."

"Sure, Gibbs, that's a good idea." When Tim came back from washing up, Gibbs was waiting for him in the galley, "Come on, Tim, we're eating up top with Cory." Tim grabbed his plate and headed up the stairs behind Gibbs. He sat at the table, noticing the awning was up and looked around.

"Where are Ducky and DiNozzo?"

"Don't know, I sent Ducky to wake Tony up, haven't seen either one of them."

Tim shook his head, "No, we're not starting this, not doing it." Rising, he went back down to the galley and went in search of DiNozzo and Ducky. He found Ducky still trying to talk Tony into getting up. DiNozzo was convinced the Day from Hell would continue and had decided to stay in bed all day. Tim smiled, as much of a pain in the ass as this man was and however much he'd hurt him, he loved him dearly. Since Tony hadn't noticed him standing in the doorway, Tim put his finger to his lips so Ducky wouldn't say anything and then reached under the covers and grabbed a foot.

"Come with us now or this foot will be tickled."

DiNozzo squirmed, "Probie! You know what happened this morning!"

"Different day, Tony, you slept for over 24 hours."

"I did?"

"No, but you might as well have. Come on, the dolphins are splashing about looking for you. It's a bright sunny day and who knows when we'll run into another storm. Got to get our Vitamin D while we can…kidding Ducky, the awning is up on the deck."

"I should say so, Timothy. Very well, Anthony, get up now or I shall be forced to help Timothy tickle your feet. And I'm a doctor; I know where all the best tickle points are."

After Tony promised to get up, the two men left him and headed back to the galley. Ducky thought of saying something to Timothy but remembering Gibbs and Mitas saying it wouldn't be handled until they reached home, decided to keep his concerns to himself. Ziva was sleeping, so it was a group of 5 men at the lunch table with three of them feeling rather awkward, one who was thankfully oblivious and the 5th one keeping an eagle eye out for further disasters.

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A/N: Lyrics for the song "The Sloop JohnB" were found through ask dot com and details on the history of the song were found on Wikipedia.

Details about the movie Mutiny on the Bounty came from IMDb dot com. The movies (there are several) are based on a 1932 novel which in turn was based on the real life mutiny against Lieutenant Wm. Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty in 1789.

And yes, the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island (note: there are four islands in the Pitcairn chain) and their descendents still live there although sadly the population in 2005 was down to 50. I found that information through ask dot com.


	33. Chapter 33

We're getting close now, only a few chapters left on our journey. Just want to say thanks to all of you who have hung in there for this rather unusual story, we've had a lot of fun, haven't we? Warm thanks to my reviewers, you are the best, virtual hugs to you all! Big thanks to my beta, harmonfreak1 for all her support and oh, by the way, I've tweaked a few things here and there since she's seen this, so any errors are my responsibility.

* * *

Chapter Thirty Three

On the Big Fish: Hoist up the 'Big Fish' sail...Let me go home!

After they'd finished eating and cleaning up the galley, they headed back to the work site. Ducky joined them since he had not had a chance to look yet. He was impressed with the progress they'd made.

They spent the rest of the afternoon putting the hull back together, happy to find that their spare wood was enough to do the job. Gibbs hadn't been thrilled with the idea of their sleek little ship suddenly taking on the appearance of a junkyard dog with a mix of painted metal and natural wood on the outer hull.

They finished the job before dinner. Since this had been a rather mixed up day, finishing on time was a real bonus. Although there was some discussion about taking it home, ultimately the backhoe was placed back inside the container it was found in and the cover replaced. The shovels, however, were stowed away aboard ship. The lifeboats were brought up, the ladder moved back to the starboard side of the ship and by 1700, the ship was reversing engines, backing out of the channel they'd dug. They motored out of the bay, heading west and a bit north, resuming their course for home. The dolphins stayed with them for the evening, only turning away as the sun set. Ziva had awakened when the boat started to move and was carried to her perch to watch the dolphins for awhile. She returned to her quarters via Tim and Tony and settled in with a book Ducky had found for her. Tim had asked if she would be interested in starting to organize their photos and she agreed, so he downloaded the photos taken since they'd left the cavern and handed his laptop to her, begging her to treat it with care. She promised, she'd worked on photos before and was comfortable captioning them and arranging them into folders.

Gibbs had taken the first shift for piloting; Tim followed him, then Tony, then Ducky. Since they were down a pilot, each shift ran an additional two hours. Tim joined Gibbs for the last hour of his shift, having awakened and not been able to fall into sleep again.

Once past the first shifts at the helm, the group easily fell back into their shipboard routines. They were excited now, knowing they were only days away from reaching home or the Coast Guard when they crossed into American waters. Ziva was soon up and moving around with her crutches, making sure she walked slowly so she could incorporate the movement of the ship into her stride. Her leg was healing well and Ducky would take the stitches out soon. Gibbs was working on her cane; he figured she wouldn't be using it until after they were home but that was no matter.

No more was said of the problems with the team over Tim's book and both Jethro and Tim had put the issue on the back burner as far as their relationship went. With Gibbs on the lower deck working on the cane, Tim made quick visits during his off hours, happy to just sit and watch his lover work. Before they'd left the islet, they'd moved the plants back into the plant nursery and given them back one of the grow lights. Gibbs was using the second grow light and one of the diving headlamps to do his work. The goats and chickens continued to produce milk and eggs, enjoying their days on the upper deck when the weather was good. The babies were following in their parents' hoofsteps, eternally curious and following the humans around on the deck. Tony called them their "grandgoats". The sun stayed with them for the most part. There were a few cloudy days but no storms, for which they were all grateful.

As their calculations told them they were quickly approaching the US border, they dug the flag out and let it hang inside to let the wrinkles drop out. Then they raised it on the mast and flew it proudly. They had used the sail off and on since the storm but found their speed was just as good using the motor and motoring was frankly, less work than sailing if not as noble or traditional. Another benefit of the good weather was that the batteries remained fully charged, so all of Tim's gizmos and gadgets ran as if there was a big electric generator housed somewhere on the ship.

They were five days out from 'Repair Island' when they cut the engines back, knowing they were about to cross over into American waters. All hands were on deck, Ziva in one of Ducky's chairs and Gibbs at the helm, the flag waving and the goats and chickens enjoying the sunshine. Tony, Tim, Ziva, Ducky and Gibbs were wearing their NCIS jackets and caps; the Field Team had their NCIS Federal Agent badges prominently displayed while Ducky displayed his NCIS Medical Examiner ID. Mitas had his drivers' license in his pocket as well as his id from the Chimera. All of them were armed. The 6 of them cheered as they crossed what they believed to be the line of demarcation between international waters and the territorial waters of the United States,. This scared the goats and the hens, prompting several minutes of annoyed bleating and clucking from them and giving the humans a good laugh.

Gibbs handed the wheel over to Tony and gathered everyone closer to the outer door of the tower. "We made it! We're home, in American territory. Great job, everyone, we've had a long haul but each of you has come through for your team. And Mitas, I can't believe you! Our one 'civilian' and you've done a helluva job keeping up and contributing, even saving our necks. I'm damn proud of each and every one of you and all of us together as a team. If we had champagne, I'd be popping the cork right now!"

Tim quipped, "You must have forgotten to ask the island elves for that, Boss!"

They all laughed at that one, thinking how true it had seemed to be. They had been gone from their island for just about three weeks and already it had taken on the gleam of memory. Now Tim was glad that they'd written down so much; even after this small amount of time he could see the details beginning to fade a bit. The photos would help them and others visualize, but the written words would bring their experiences back to life. He took his notepad out and wrote down Gibbs comments, his little comment and the reaction. Even if they just put it together for themselves, family and friends, it would still matter, it would help bridge the gap of the months being presumed dead.

They sat there in the water for a few minutes and then Gibbs looked around, "No company, let's just keep going." He stepped back into the tower, ordering DiNozzo to resume their course and speed. It was a full five minutes before Mitas on lookout with the binoculars, sang out, "We have company!"

"Friendly?"

"Don't know about that, but it's our Coast Guard."

They had discussed what they'd do at this point many times, starting their first night on the island. As agreed, Gibbs turned the engine off and he and DiNozzo exited the tower. The group lined the railing, watching the Coast Guard ship, the Sailfish, approach. Within a very few minutes, they received a hail, "Aboard the Big Fish. We show no record of your ship anywhere. Prepare to be boarded."

The crew aboard the USCG ship must have been surprised when the warning, usually a sign of trouble, brought out big grins from the unlikely looking group lining the railing of the mystery ship. The petty officer on lookout with the glasses was surprised when he noticed the badges on the jackets and the lettering on their caps. He notified his CO who took a closer look. "Most of them are wearing NCIS caps. Can't see the detailing on the badges yet."

At that point, Tim turned around to pick up one of Ziva's crutches, which had fallen and the petty officer and his CO saw the "NCIS" stitched across the back of his jacket. "I'll be damned; I'll let the Captain know."

"Aye sir." The Captain was soon briefed about the possibility of NCIS agents – or people using their clothing and badges – aboard the mystery ship. The Captain's curiosity began to build and he joined the boarding crew on deck. "This may be a friendly group, but go in prepared for a fight and check the entire ship, can't believe there's only 6 people on there. Follow procedure."

"Aye sir." The boarding party departed for the suspect ship. The crew of the Big Fish was under close scrutiny from the Sailfish as the boarding party scrambled up the ladder onto the deck. The mystery crew stood at what their watchers recognized as parade rest, with the exception of one man and the woman, who was on crutches. The oldest looking man seemed to be having a disagreement with her and the other older man, who seemed to be in charge, said something and she obeyed, disappearing from view. Moving the glasses around the deck, the petty officer saw she was now sitting in a chair, her leg propped up and the crutches on the deck beside her. He grinned; he knew an order being reluctantly obeyed when he saw it.

Ziva huffed to herself, she had been fine standing, using the crutches, Ducky was just being overly cautious, being a mother goose, no that wasn't quite right. However, she'd had no choice when Gibbs ordered her to sit.

The Coast Guard swarmed aboard and with an order from Gibbs, his entire crew put their hands up in a gesture of surrender. They hated doing it, but hoped it would make their repatriation a lot easier.

The ranking officer of the party approached Gibbs. "Name?"

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Citizen of what country?"

"The United States of America."

"All right, we'll run your name and your badge number, Gibbs."

"Permission to speak, Sir?" The officer was taken aback but nodded, giving permission. "I am or was the Team Lead for the Major Case Response Team based at NCIS headquarters in DC. Last October, my team and I, along with our Medical Examiner were taken to the USN Chimera to investigate a mysterious death. The captain and crew had abandoned ship, leaving behind the communications officer and Cory Mitas, the ship's cook. Long story short because I believe the details should and will be classified; the ship was boarded by a hostile group that we believed to be pirates. We took their assault craft and were well away from the ship when it was destroyed. We took refuge on a small island and built this ship using materials on hand on the island."

"That's a rather amazing story, Gibbs."

"Yes, sir, I'm aware of that. We do have photos and other evidence to back us up."

"Very well." The officer turned to his second in command. "Get the list of these peoples' names and identification numbers, then call it in, get them checked out."

"Aye sir"

The ranking officer motioned to his second and they moved away from the group. "Finish the weapons search, every nook and cranny of this ship. I'll let the captain know what they said, the story. It's so farfetched it could be true."

"You think so?"

"Not sure but we need to follow procedure here." Before the men moved off to their tasks, they heard Gibbs request to speak with them again. The Lieutenant nodded and the silver haired man, his cap long since removed and tucked in his pants' pocket, moved forward a bit. Not enough to be threatening.

"We'll need some privacy, sir." The lieutenant was a practical man and had been on border patrol for several years. His gut was telling him these people were the real deal although he also felt there was some sort of secret here. Perhaps this was it.

"In the tower then, where the guard can see us." He nodded at his men and they aimed their weapons at the ship's crew. Any suspicious activity from the man and his crew would be in trouble. Gibbs gave him a sad look as he turned toward the pilot's tower. He knew most of this was necessary but it was a harsh welcome after all their efforts to get here: simultaneously risking and saving their own lives by stealing the assault craft, completing the Chimera's black op mission by bringing the nuclear warhead home with them, going through the whole Chief Rogers' situation, nearly getting killed when his body bomb exploded, finding and burying Wong, building the ship, coming way to close to losing Ziva.

Camarillo saw the look in the man's eyes and felt some compassion. Turning back, he gave the guards a hand signal and they lowered their weapons to the deck.

Stepping into the pilot's tower, he looked around, "You built this from scratch?"

"Yes and no, we took an assault craft from those pirates I was telling you about; that's where the electronics came from. And the pirates turned out to be Russian sailors."

"Russian, we're allies now."

"Yes, but we weren't back in the day. Lieutenant, before I go any further, what is your security clearance?" Camarillo told him. "Very well, then I can tell you. Before you were likely even born, there was a rumor that the Soviet Union, our deadliest enemy at the time, had placed a nuclear warhead in the Atlantic, aimed at Washington. When we were called out to the Chimera to investigate the suspicious death, we were told that they were doing some sort of deep water research. The crew was gone, they'd abandoned ship. What we found on board was a nuclear warhead they'd brought up from the depths, with Cyrillic writing on it. When we got word the ship was about to be boarded by pirates, we took that warhead, in its lead lined container and brought it with us on the assault craft. Everyone on my crew, except Mitas, has been exposed to that thing as we had to move it a couple of times on the island – hiding it from an enemy. And we have it here with us now."

"I have so many questions, Gibbs. But first, I'll need to see this thing."

"It's hidden between decks, Lieutenant and I'll gladly show you. I want to get rid of this thing, I nearly left it on the island, but thought that would just perpetuate the problem."

"That's why the Russians boarded Chimera?"

"We believe so."

"What did they do when they didn't find it, when they saw their boat was gone?"

"They didn't have much chance to do anything, by the time we were nearly a mile away from the ship, it was destroyed."

"By?"

"The U.S. Navy destroyed Chimera, went down within 5 minutes."

"So why didn't they search for you?"

"They didn't know we were off the ship. We had no time to let our Director know our plan and our cell phones didn't work out there. The radio on board the assault craft was tuned to one frequency and we figured it was to the parent ship, the Russians. We disabled it to avoid any confrontation."

Camarillo looked at him, dumbfounded. The Navy had destroyed the ship, sacrificing their own agents?

Gibbs saw the look and tilted his head. "I don't suppose they thought they had a choice, Lieutenant."

"Still, that's…cold."

"Saved the US face and a lot of trouble with the Russians, now an ally. We would not have been the first federal agents to be sacrificed for the greater good."

Camarillo shook his head. "That's still cold, however you look at it. All right, let me brief the Captain before we go poke at this monster."

Gibbs nodded and at Camarillo's nod, slipped out of the tower while the Lieutenant contacted his Commanding Officer. His crew looked relieved to see him but the second officer, giving him the fisheye, stalked over to the tower to check on his CO, even though he could clearly see him through the window, talking on his phone. He was back in less than a minute, having been motioned away at the door. He did not have the security clearance to listen to the briefing.

Camarillo beckoned to his second and to Gibbs when he got off the phone. "Captain's got some calls to make. Rice, you can have the men stand down for now."

Rice nodded and passed the order along to his men. Gibbs' crew still stood at parade rest, now he gave them a look that was meant to convey his pride in them and give them some hope.

While they were standing there, Tony's stomach started its midday rumbling, it was time for lunch. The guards' eyes widened and they barely hid smirks. Gibbs turned to the two officers, "Mitas usually makes lunch at this time. Ok if he does that now?"

Camarillo smiled and gave a nod to his second, who answered in the affirmative. "Need to know what he's serving though."

Gibbs nodded at Mitas. "Cory, what's on the menu today?"

"I was going to make something special, Gibbs, to celebrate being home. Ham with potatoes with our blue berries and fresh cream for dessert."

"Red, ok, it's really pink, but we'll call it red today ham, white potatoes and blue berries, that the plan?"

"Yeah, it was."

Camarillo spoke up, "Go ahead with it. We'll have someone with you, but you're free to prepare your lunch." Mitas looked to Gibbs who nodded.

"Jethro, perhaps I could help him?" Gibbs was careful to look at both the Coast Guard officers for permission.

"Yes, Doctor, that will be fine. You'll eat up here though."

Gibbs nodded, that was fine. He was just glad it wasn't raining because he had a sinking feeling they would still be standing on their deck.

Ducky paused on the edge of the stairs. "Sirs, our crew needs to get under the awning. I've spent nearly 6 months making sure they didn't sunburn, I'll be damned if I'll let that go now."

Tim sighed; grateful the man hadn't brought up the sunhats.

Camarillo looked at Gibbs' crew. The two male agents were clearly unhappy but remained at parade rest. The young woman was not happy to have been relegated to a chair but he could see what he thought was pain in her face.

"Dr. Mallard." Ducky turned, "Is your patient on any pain medication?"

"Yes, she's been but she's refused to take any today."

"She's in pain now, she should probably have some."

Ducky turned and went to Ziva and took her chin in his hand. "Really Ziva, you promised."

"You were going to help Mitas, he needs you, Ducky, you know he's frightened."

"I can help him as soon as I help you, my dear. Timothy, will you be so kind as to fetch my medical bag from my bunk?"

Tim looked to Gibbs and the officers for permission and the second motioned to one of the guards. "Yes, but Yates here will accompany you."

Tim nodded and waited for Yates to step forward. Gibbs and Ducky had warned them that the Coast Guard would likely be tough on them but he had not thought it would be this humiliating. He found himself wishing they'd never left the island and then resolutely shut down that train of thought. He was not a wimp, none of them were wimps. They were strong enough for whatever was thrown at them. Going through this would get them home. Home meant Penny, Sarah and the others they'd left behind and a new life with Jethro. Heading down the stairs, he found Mitas in the galley, eyes wide.

"It's ok, Cory, we're just going to get Ducky's bag, Ziva needs her pain meds."

"Oh, so is he coming to help me after?"

"As far as I know." Mitas looked at him with a sad look in his eyes.

"Cory, we'll be ok, they're doing their jobs. Remember how we did with Rogers and then with Wong? These guys are professionals too; they have to follow procedures, just like we did."

"I know, Tim, I just didn't think it would be so…"

"Cold and humiliating? Yeah I know. Just hang in there; hopefully this will get straightened out."

"Soon?"

"Don't know."

"Any chance we can fish for dinner? Unless we want eggs..."

"I'll ask Gibbs to ask the officers when we get back up top. I've got to get Ducky's bag, Cory, Ziva's hurting."

"Oh geez, I'm sorry!" Tim patted his friend on the back and motioning to Yates, headed to Ducky's bunk. Yates hadn't been down here before, having not been in on the weapons search, and he straggled behind Tim, looking at Ziva's door and inside Tim's room and the others who'd left their doors open.

"You guys each have your own rooms?"

"On board ship, yeah, we didn't on the island, slept in a row of mattresses in a big cavern."

"Wow. Privacy."

"Not really, walls are pretty thin."

"Still, you don't have some guy up above or down below you."

"True, but that didn't happen until after months of sleeping out in the open with everyone! We designed it this way."

"You really built this?"

"All of us did, yeah."

"Even the old guys?"

"All of us, we had a schedule and assigned tasks."

"And that cook, he asks what you want to eat?"

"He used to; by now he pretty much knows our likes and dislikes."

"And he doesn't serve the crap anyway?"

Tim almost laughed but kept it to himself, "No, he doesn't. We do have to eat vegetables but that's Dr. Mallard's rule, not Mitas'."

He approached Ducky's bunk and looked for the bag. "Huh, I don't see it…oh, it's under the book."

He smiled to himself as he moved Ducky's current read, one of his Deep Six books, onto the bed. Seeing the book made him feel better, he was a real person, a living citizen and things would get better. Picking up the medical bag, he turned to look at Yates, who was looking at the bunk and back at Tim, confused. Tim frowned and turned to look at what Yates was looking at. The book had fallen open where Ducky had marked it with the inside of the book's cover and Yates was staring at Tim's photo or rather Thom E Gemcity's photo and then at Tim.

"Something wrong, Yates?"

"That's Thom E Gemcity, I read that book, I read all his books. There was a rumor that he died. That photo, it looks like…like you."

Tim nodded, "Yeah it does, or it did, before I lost a bunch of weight."

"Is it you?"

"Come on, we'd better get this bag to Ducky or Coast Guard or no Coast Guard, he'll rip me a new one for causing my teammate unnecessary pain."

Yates nodded and they reversed course. Back on the deck, Ducky spotted them, opened his mouth to complain and then changed his mind when he saw the pleading look in Tim's eyes. This was difficult and they had no idea when it would be resolved. Or even if it would be resolved. He took the bag and patted Tim's hand.

Tim looked for Jethro. He spotted him still talking with the Lieutenant and was relieved that nothing had changed while he was gone. Remembering his promise to Mitas, he turned to Yates, "May I talk with my boss, Agent Gibbs? About fishing for dinner?" Yates told him he'd pass the question about fishing up the line and did just that. The second officer got the question and came back to Tim, "You the one asking about fishing?"

"Actually our cook, Mitas, asked me to ask, but yes sir."

"You'd be fishing for dinner?"

"Yes sir, we have fresh fish nearly every day."

"So the ham that guy, your cook, was talking about?"

"Special occasion or storm food – when it's too stormy to fish."

"Where'd you get the ham?"

"It's canned, sir, we found a carton of them on the island."

"A carton of canned ham?"

"Yes sir, I can show you a photo of the debris fields if you'd like."

"Yeah, that would be good."

Tim looked around, trying to remember who'd had the camera last. It had been Tony, he'd set up a group shot this morning and was still wearing the camera on the neck strap.

"My colleague has our camera, sir, if I may approach him?"

"Yeah. Yates, go with him." Tim just barely managed to not roll his eyes as he walked the three feet to Tony with Yates by his side.

"Tony, may I borrow the camera? One of the officers wants to see photos of the debris fields."

Tony gave him a small smile, "Sure Probie, here you go. Happen to see how Mitas is doing with lunch?"

"He was frying up the potatoes when I was down there."

"Good, that means soon."

Tim nodded, took the camera and headed back to the officer, whose name he thought was Rice, Ensign Rice. "Mr. Rice, here's the camera. Let me go through and find the first photos we took of the debris fields."

Rice watched as Tim thumbed through until he came to the first shots, taken on their early coving trips. He and Ziva and Mitas looked like they were standing on the water, really they were standing on the barge as Tony had insisted before he shot the photo. He remembered that day; they'd had a lot of fun.

He handed the man the camera; all the sensitive photos had been downloaded and secured on his laptop and then deleted from the camera's memory card. The ensign started going through the photos and Tim was amazed to see Yates trying to peek over his shoulder. Yates was taller than the ensign so it wasn't hard to do.

Rice was still looking when Ducky poked his head up from the galley, "Lunch in 10. Timothy, Anthony, if you'll please move the animals below? And then secure the table and get Ziva seated, leg propped still please. I'll pass the cutlery up, oh hello Jethro." Gibbs had finished whatever discussion he was having with Lt. Camarillo and decided to lend a hand. Tim was making goaty sounds and Tony was clucking at the chickens and Gibbs could see the Coast Guard crew was amazed when the goats and the chickens followed his men down the stairs and into their pen. Gibbs got the table set out and secured, remembering to use the cleats at the bottom and then he picked Ziva up and carried her to the table, setting her on the bench while he went back for her chair. One of the Coast Guard men was behind him with the chair and her crutches and he nodded his appreciation. Tim and Tony, coming back through the galley, brought their usual storage tub of dishes, cutlery, mugs and a tumbler for Mitas. They set the table while Gibbs went back to Ducky for the coffee pot and tea kettle. Tim took the tumbler and summoning Yates, went and filled it for Mitas at the cistern.

"Hey, that looks like a hot tub."

"It was built as a hot tub; we made it our cistern on the island and then brought it with us."

"So you collect rain water in it?"

"Yes."

"Wow, you guys really thought of everything."

"No hot showers."

"Baths only?"

"Yeah and they're not hot, takes too long to heat the water. I never found a tank to use for a water heater."

"You were going to build a water heater?"

"Yeah, thought about it, a solar powered one, that's how we have everything powered. But I never found a tank that I could use so we have warm, not hot, baths." Yates just shook his head.

Back at the galley, Ducky handed Gibbs a platter of ham and a bowl of fried potatoes with their usual accompaniment of onions and garlic. As usual, Ducky had insisted on a vegetable so the potato dish included fresh spinach leaves, lightly cooked with the fresh garlic.

They gathered together at the table and Gibbs looked at each one. "You've done well today, each of you, I know this isn't easy and I don't know how long it's going to take to get us all the way home. But Cory, remember what you told me on 'Repair Island'?"

Cory nodded, "Yes, that we'd done everything you said we were going to so I wasn't going to start doubting us."

"Yeah, hoping you can apply that again now."

"But Gibbs, this isn't in our control, we're prisoners now, on our own ship."

"Temporarily, my boy, and think about it. We have no valid identification, our employers told everyone we were dead, yes we know who we are, where we come from and what we've accomplished, but if you were the cook on the Sailfish, you'd be chatting right now with your buddies about those suspicious people on the un-registered ship."

"I guess, Ducky, it's just hard to be on this side of it."

"Hey, Cory, we've been through way worse than this!"

"I know guys, I'm sorry I'm being so whiny."

Tim and Tony looked at each other and started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Mitas, either one of us could out-whine you any hour of any day and you've heard us do it! But seriously, you're expressing the feelings the rest of us have."

"Then why aren't you guys…never mind, I know, trained Federal Agents."

"It is not just that, Cory, we have been with Gibbs for longer than you and we know he will protect us." Gibbs looked at Ziva with a small smile.

"C'mon guys, the feast Cory made for us is getting cold. Eat up."

As they were eating, Tim mentioned the fishing to Gibbs. "I made a request to that ensign that we be allowed to fish this afternoon, for our dinner tonight. Haven't gotten an answer yet."

"Ok, I'll follow up with him. Anything else?" Tim shook his head, having decided not to play with fire by bringing up Yates' recognition of Gemcity.

Tony had questions. "Can we get out of our NCIS gear and into our regular clothes and can we go about things on the ship?"

"Yes, after lunch go ahead and change if you want. Don't know about going about our normal duties on the ship yet. The Captain has apparently been in conference with his superiors while the boarding party has been here. Don't know what the upshot of that will be. We may be allowed to stay on the ship, we could be split up, some of us here, some of us on the Sailfish, or we could all be thrown in their brig. I don't know and I won't make any promises I can't keep."

Mitas paled at the mention of the brig and Ducky frowned at Gibbs, reaching over to pat their friend on the arm, "Do not fear, young Cory. We will be taken care of and this will be straightened out."

It was Tim and Tony's turn to wash dishes, so they gathered everything up, Tim went and got Yates and the three of them headed down the stairs so they could do their chores under guard. As he started washing, Tony started humming the song they'd sung recently, "The Sloop John B" and Tim, grinning, waited until he got to the chorus and the two of them started singing. Surprisingly, Ducky appeared and Gibbs behind him, helping Ziva down the stairs using her crutches. A couple of their guards followed and stood on the stairs as there was no more room in the galley, jaws dropping as this strange group sang an old tune from the Beach Boys. There were several verses and they sang every one of them, along with a rousing chorus. By the time they finished, Mitas was grinning and Gibbs nodded at his agents, mission accomplished.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Four

On the Big Fish: You're a dead man!

On the Sailfish earlier that morning, the Captain had taken the call from Camarillo with the strangers' story and frowned, _'Leroy Jethro Gibbs, now why did that sound familiar?_ He paced the deck, thinking and came up with his answer. He got back on the phone. "Camarillo, does Gibbs have piercing blue eyes and salt and pepper hair?"

"Yes Cap'n."

"I have a quick call to make, hang tight over there."

"Aye Sir." The Captain made a personal call and had a bit of a discussion with no real conclusion, which actually helped.

After his call, he contacted his superiors and let them know of the odd situation. They advised him to wait for further orders while they consulted the SecNav's office. By this time it was afternoon and the Captain knew the consultation and any decisions were likely to take some time. He decided to let the crew of the ship, one of whom he believed was an acquaintance, know what was going on. He and his yeoman took another of the launches and headed for the unregistered ship.

When he came aboard, he walked straight to the man Gibbs and stood looking at him. "You're a dead man, Gunny."

"And yet here I am, Captain…" Gibbs paused and looked at him for a long moment. "Had an agent worked for me for a few years, looked a lot like you. Met his brother once, was in the Coast Guard. My former agent's name is Stan, Stan Burley. Brother's name is Matt Burley and I'm glad to see he's made Captain."

Beside him on the deck, Gibbs heard Tony, Tim and Ducky quickly inhale when they heard the familiar name of Gibbs' former teammate. Tony had met him on a case they'd worked together. Tim had heard the man's name; his was the second longest record for being on Gibbs' team. Ducky smiled, good old Stan.

The Captain held out his hand and Gibbs shook it. "Quite a story you told Lt. Camarillo."

"It's true, just left out the parts that will likely be classified."

Captain Burley nodded, "I recognized your name and remembered that Stan said you and your team had been killed in the line of duty. So I called him and he told me that he'd never believed the story that was given, that he knew neither you nor any of your field agents would have been so careless. Said he figured it was a classified mission or friendly fire or both. He also said that one of the scientists that worked with you, an Abby somebody had come under some heat for refusing to accept the official version of your deaths."

Gibbs shook his head, so his fears had been justified and Jen had not protected Abby or had not been able to protect her.

"Know what happened to her?"

"Stan said an FBI guy you all worked with took her and another person under his wing and that they are now working for the Bureau. But he didn't know anything about what really happened to you, Gibbs, and that helped me make up my mind. You're dead, all of you are officially dead, but since you are in fact alive, the Secretary of the Navy has been informed."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "So we were declared dead, not missing?"

"Correct, killed in the line of duty. Since you have no valid ids and the Secretary of the Navy is involved, I have no further say in the matter, although I was allowed to give my recommendation. At this point, my orders are to wait for further orders."

"So we wait here? Will we be allowed to stay on board the Big Fish?"

Captain Burley tried not to sigh. "I've been instructed to move half of you to my ship and install armed guards over here, 24/7." Gibbs blinked; he had anticipated the armed guards but had hoped not to be split up.

"Who are you going to remove?"

"I know this is just a precaution and probably not one you anticipated Gibbs, but I do have to remove Officer David, since she is not and was not a citizen of the US or an employee, alive or dead, of NCIS. We'll move her and your doctor to our ship."

"That's two."

"I believe that will be sufficient." Gibbs swallowed. This was just temporary and yet moving Ziva and Ducky away from them, from their ship, their home was hitting him hard. All he could do was nod, knowing he had no choice.

Finally he was able to choke out the words he'd originally meant to say.  
"We'll comply, Captain, we just want to get home."

Burley nodded, so Gibbs went down the line, introducing Ducky, Mitas and then his team. Burley took note of the pride in the man's voice when he introduced each one, including Mitas, the guy from the original ship. They looked healthy, in good shape, a little tan for anyone not living in the tropics but then he supposed that with first being on an island and then a ship at sea there was no way they wouldn't be in the sun. Thinking about the dates, he realized these people had been away from home for nearly six months and in that time they'd managed to build a ship and sail themselves home. He was impressed.

Captain Burley had already been briefed about the nuclear warhead. He gathered his Lieutenant and Gibbs, along with one of the guards and they went below to view the reason for this whole mess. Gibbs unscrewed the boards that hid the weapon in the decking and stepped aside for the others to inspect. Even though his numbers were fine after his exposure, he didn't want to risk any more. The men's eyes gleamed as they viewed the Russian writing on the warhead and the container but no one said a word. At a gesture from the Captain the guard closed and locked the container. Once that was done, the Captain motioned to Gibbs who reset the boards in place and secured them. He was relieved that this monster would be out of his hands soon.

Back on deck, Captain Burley informed Gibbs that David and Mallard would have to be removed soon. He allowed him to gather his crew and give them the news. He saw grief on all faces and steeled himself to it. Even if the rest of them were accepted, David had never been a US citizen; her employer, the Israeli Mossad, was being contacted.

The two were allowed below to pack a bag. Gibbs picked Ziva up and carried her, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. He was afraid she would be ripped away from them, forced to return to Israel. He insisted she take her comforter and Tim brought her the large canvas bag they'd had since Gibbs had moved that bicycle in Jetsam Cove and found all their rope their first week on the island. He stayed to help her stuff the comforter into the bag. Ducky was packed fairly quickly. Crowded into the narrow hall of the bunkroom, their guards at either end, Ducky and Ziva were given many hugs before they took deep breaths and headed back out. Tim carried Ziva up this time, with Tony carrying her crutches. They switched on the upper deck and Tony carried her to the launch, handing her gently to one of the crewman. The four remaining men stood forlornly on the deck, watching the launch carry part of their family away, all of them wondering what would happen to Ziva.

When the launch reached the Sailfish, Ziva knew her family would still be watching her and as she was helped aboard, she stood on the deck, looked back and blew a kiss to the Big Fish. Behind her, Ducky gave a rusty chuckle, "Come along, dear one, I want you off that leg." She murmured something to him and he held her for a brief moment before the crewmen nudged them from their spot on the deck.

The Captain invited Gibbs for dinner that night, but he politely refused. He just didn't have it in him to be separated for any length of time from the rest of his crew and he wasn't any good at playing politics. They had been given permission to fish and the four of them lined the port railing, their backs to the Sailfish, fishing for their dinner. Their guards had been changed to a new group and evidently had been warned about personal contact. Remembering Gibbs' words about their own prisoner, Chief Rogers, possibly trying to make a personal connection, no one was too surprised at the change, but regretted it anyway.

They caught what they needed, enough for a couple of days for their livestock and themselves and then set about cleaning their catch. Gibbs fetched the tub they kept in the cool box and the smaller one for the guts that went to the chickens. A portion was set aside for the goats and they asked permission to feed their friends. Permission was granted and Tim, along with an armed guard, set out for the animal pen. Gibbs watched him walk away, shoulders straight, head held high and smiled, his lover knew he'd be watching and was trying to show him they could handle this.

It was difficult however and none of them ate much at dinner. They were used to more activity and by the time the day was nearly done they were bored. They played Hearts and a game that Ducky had taught them but that just made them sad and mad again. Tony made a half hearted suggestion that they dance, but none of them wanted to without their friends and definitely not with the guards there. They were allowed to build a fire in their fire pit and Mitas brought out one of his favorite books and handed it to Tim, asking him to read. Tim read aloud for more than two hours, until his voice started to give out. When he finally marked his place and closed the book, they sat there looking at each other, the four of them.

Tim stretched, thinking aloud. "Do you remember our first night on the assault craft? We weren't happy that night either, except to be alive. We were scared, didn't know where we were, how we were going to get home. Tony had the wheel, Mitas you were nervous around everyone but Ducky and you just sat and watched us. Boss and I laid out on the deck to map out the constellations, figure out where we were. Remember that? Let's do that tonight. Go get a blanket or your mattress if you want and let's lay out on the deck and Boss and I will show you the stars. I don't want to think about being a prisoner anymore tonight."

Gibbs patted Tim on the shoulder and added, "Remember Ziva and Ducky are only across the water from us; they're looking at the same stars."

The four of them took their blankets and headed up top. Tim and Gibbs lay down in the middle with Mitas and Tony on either side. They spent the next few hours finding the constellations and sharing their favorite tales of them. Their guards surrounded them but gave them some space, so that while looking up at the night sky chock full of stars, they could pretend they were free and ignore the armed men just outside their peripheral vision.

Gibbs had wondered if they'd want to sleep on deck but realized he wanted the comfort of his own mattress and room. Eventually they quieted and Gibbs sighed. "It's time, guys, we need to get below and get some sleep."

As he rose, the officer in charge approached him, "Gibbs, you may sleep in your bunks, but the doors have to be open. We'll have guards patrolling down there all night."

Tony thought at that moment that he actually hated the man. He rolled over and said to Gibbs, "In that case, I'd rather bring my mattress up here. I won't sleep with them pounding the deck all night." Tim and Mitas nodded. Gibbs looked at the officer, "Is this what you wanted? We've followed every order, done everything you've asked, you've found no evidence that we're not who we say we are, your officers have seen our photos, looked at our chronicles, hell, your captain knows me and this is the way you treat us, armed guards patrolling our bunkroom. You can't even let us sleep in peace?"

The officer had the grace to look away at the anger and bitterness in the prisoner's voice. Gibbs sighed, "Come on guys, let's get our mattresses and sleep up here, at least then they won't be pounding the deck and we can see the night sky, unless they find a way to take that away from us too."

He was ashamed of his lack of control but at this moment, he didn't care. They were not terrorists or illegal immigrants. They had done nothing to cause the lie about their deaths, had only worked to save themselves and had actually fulfilled the original mission of the Chimera. On top of that, Captain Burley _knew_ him, had recognized and acknowledged him. They could have been allowed to live their lives peaceably aboard ship while the situation was resolved in Washington, not being under armed guard, a whole squadron of armed guards, to the point of being watched while they slept. They were not convicted felons!

They made a quick job of bringing the mattresses and all the blankets they could find up top. When Mitas spotted Tony and Tim with their go bags, he went back for his pack as well. He'd rather have his stuff with him. They settled in up top and although none of them thought they'd sleep, the emotional turmoil of the day had taken its toll and soon they all slept.

Their second day as prisoners dawned bright and clear. Gibbs, Tim and Mitas were up at their usual hour leaving Tony snuggled into this blankets still sound asleep. Having asked and been granted permission, Tim and Gibbs gathered eggs and milked the goats. Remembering this was a fresh cream day Tim set up a new batch of milk to separate and then skimmed the already separated cream into the butter churn. The guards watched, expressionless, as they went about their morning chores. Mitas made skillet biscuits to go with their eggs and potatoes. Before all this happened, he'd thought to make pancakes this morning, however now he wanted comfort food and that meant eggs and potatoes. Still wishing for some honey, he served breakfast while Gibbs woke Tony and Tim made butter. The four of them ate quickly and then again sat and looked at each other. Sighing, Tony got up and filled one of their buckets with water and set it on the burner to heat for the dishes. After he washed, he would wash the galley floor, one of his tasks this week. Gibbs took on the task Ducky had this week, latrine duty. They moved about the ship, followed everywhere by guns held by fellow citizens wary of their every movement.

At 1000, a launch arrived with Lt. Camarillo. The Captain wanted to see Gibbs, and this was not a request. Tim, Tony and Mitas watched their leader being removed from the ship and sent by launch to the enemy, for so they had come to think of the Coast Guard. As the launch pulled away, those left behind wondered who would the next to be taken, who would be the last one left aboard the Big Fish.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five

On the Big Fish: Friendly Fire

The three picked up their mattresses and returned them to their bunks then stopped and stared at each other. Tim spoke, "The only thing we haven't done is swab the deck. That will take a few minutes." The others nodded and finding their homemade mops, they took their metal buckets, filled them at the cistern and then cleaned the deck. The expressionless guards watched them, their weapons still trained on them. No one said a word.

XXX

When the launch reached the Sailfish, Gibbs was hustled off and up the ladder, guards in front and back of him. He saw Ducky and Ziva, on her crutches, from a distance and gave them a little wave. They looked at him in surprise and dismay, happy to see him but sorry that he too had been separated from the others and from the looks of it, forcibly separated.

Gibbs was escorted to the Captain's quarters where he saw that a video conference had been set up. He was offered a seat which he refused. He was boiling mad and wanted to hold onto his fury at their treatment. When the meeting started, one of the first persons he saw was Tobias Fornell and he blinked in relief. Tobias looked shell shocked and reached toward the screen. "Jethro, I…I'm happy to see you. Where are the others, I was told you were all alive."

"They were alive when I was forced from the ship, Tobias. They weren't invited here, Tobias, they're still being held prisoner on our ship."

"Forced from the ship...being held prisoner? That's not what we were told was happening!" Fornell turned to another familiar face, Tom Morrow. "Why are they being held prisoner? Why was Gibbs forced from his ship? They had nothing to do with being declared dead. Somebody at NCIS or the Navy obviously didn't know what the hell they were talking about, never bothered searching and then lied to us, to their families and friends. And now they're being held prisoner?"

Gibbs relaxed just a bit; it felt good to have someone on their side.

A voice spoke from the end of the table. "That was not our intent, gentlemen."

Gibbs recognized the voice, it was SecNav, but he couldn't actually see him. For the moment he decided to take advantage of that. "That's bullshit. We've been under armed guard at all times and when I say armed, I mean loaded weapons pointing in our faces; I was just ordered off my ship at gunpoint and my crew remaining on board were held back at gunpoint, again loaded weapons pointing in their faces, even though they hadn't done anything to resist. We have to ask permission to do anything, from fishing for our dinner to walking two feet to retrieve something from another person, to being allowed to pee in private. Last night we slept on deck because the officer in charge told us they would be patrolling our quarters the entire night. We didn't want to take the chance of one of us sneezing or snoring and being shot."

Burley glared at him but he ignored him, he didn't care, he wanted justice for his team. "We completed the original black op the Chimera crew was charged with and we're treated like we're the enemy. This is unacceptable. I have never been so disappointed in NCIS and the US Navy. Where's the Secretary, does he know what's going on?"

Davenport spoke, "I'm here Gibbs and you can stand down."

"I don't work for you anymore Admiral, I don't exist, I'm a dead man, how can I possibly stand down?"

Morrow spoke, "Jethro, if you'll give us a moment?" The screen went dark; Gibbs turned and faced away from Burley, so angry he was afraid if he looked at him he might raise a hand to him and he knew he wouldn't last more than a second before the bullets would fly.

Burley sighed and spoke. "Gibbs, I…"

Gibbs interrupted, "Spare me your bullshit too, I'm done listening. Give me David and Mallard and take us back to the Big Fish. Take the damn container and leave us alone. We'll get out of these waters and head back to our island. We're not putting up with this crap for another minute."

He spun on his heels and walked out the door, daring them to shoot him in the back. He found his two friends in the corridor, "Get your things, we're going back to the 'Fish and back to the island. We're not going to be prisoners here any longer."

Neither moved; looking down he saw that they already had their stuff with them. He reached out to take Ziva's bags but Ducky stopped him, "No, give them to me, I'll carry them, you carry Ziva, it'll be faster that way."

They walked through the corridor to the outer deck without being challenged. Reaching the launch he'd arrived in, the young crewmen took their bags and helped them in, obviously having received orders. They left the Sailfish and arrived at the Big Fish within three minutes. As they arrived, the guards and their officer were lining up to depart, carrying the container with the nuclear warhead with them. Tim, Mitas and Tony's eyes had nearly popped out of their heads when they saw the two officers carrying the Soviet weapon onto the deck but said nothing, just glad to be rid of the thing.

As the launch docked, Gibbs picked Ziva up and handed her up to Tim and Mitas. They brought her on board and then took the baggage and lastly Ziva's crutches. When they were all on board and the Sailfish launch was on its way with their former guards and the hated container, Gibbs finally spoke. "DiNozzo, you have the helm. Reverse course and get us back into international waters at our best speed. The rest of you, batten down the hatches, we're out of here."

"Boss, are we going back to the island?"

"Yes we are, unless anyone has any better ideas. We sure as hell are not staying here to be treated like convicted felons for one more minute."

DiNozzo was already in the tower and they heard the engine start.  
"And take down the flag. I'm not even sure we're Americans anymore."

Mitas gulped, _was this a ploy by Gibbs or were they really leaving?_

Gibbs turned to him, "I'm sorry Cory. It seems I can't get us home after all. We'll get out of American waters and regroup."

Tim and Mitas took the flag down and folded it away. Tony reversed the engine and turned the ship around, heading east. The rest of them gathered at the railing, facing eastward and away from the treacheries and politics of their homeland or their former homeland. At their best speed, they had cleared American waters within just a few minutes and were still doing top speed when Mitas, on lookout in the tower, reported the Sailfish was on the border and hailing them.

Gibbs ordered an all stop and gathered everyone in the tower. "Last chance, is anyone interested in what they have to say or do we go for our island?"

Ziva smiled and slipping her hand into her pocket; took out and waved an unfamiliar phone at him. "Gibbs, I was given this last night to contact my father. I did so and told him what was going on. He was not happy that an Israeli citizen, an ally of the US, has been treated this way and has made a formal complaint to both the US State Department and the United Nations. The Israeli Navy is sending a ship to rendezvous with us, you are all being granted immediate and permanent asylum in Israel."

Gibbs grinned at her, he'd always been wary of Director David, but this was the best news they'd had since they crossed into home waters yesterday.

Tim had a blank look on this face which Gibbs knew meant he was thinking. "Boss, we're in international waters now. If we listen to what Sailfish has to say, we're in no danger, they have no jurisdiction out here and we have a backup plan with the Israelis. Ziva, how far to the rendezvous? "

Ziva smiled again, "Perhaps two hours, maybe less. My father was able to divert one of our cruisers in the general vicinity."

Tim turned to Gibbs, "So we lose nothing by listening. What did they do to you over there, Boss?" Gibbs quickly filled them in, including the fact that Fornell had been in the meeting and had spoken up for them.

"Did anyone say why they were treating us like this?"

"In the meeting SecNav tried to deny treating us like prisoners. I recognized his voice but couldn't see him so decided to play dumb about who was speaking. I gave the Coast Guard hell for the way we've been treated and let them know about the guns in our faces and the way I was forced off the ship. But I believe I do know why, Tim. We know too much. I've been thinking about it, there's a lot involved and there's so much about Chimera that went wrong. It was a black op, it should have had the tightest security possible and we certainly went through tight security before we were flown out. But somebody got sloppy, their security measures weren't tight enough and they ended up with a traitor, Ferris, or maybe he was a mole, we may never know, and he inveigled Chief Rogers into doing treasonous work, now how embarrassing would that information be if it got out to the world? Talk about a major lapse in security, oops! Of course, no one but us knows about Rogers yet or the murders of Gellis and Wong. On top of that the ship was destroyed by friendly fire. The Secretary of the Navy and the Director of NCIS had every reason to believe four of their agents and their Medical Examiner were still on board that ship. Yes, as federal agents we knowingly put our lives on the line, but a Medical Examiner? I doubt "be prepared to be sacrificed by your boss to save face because said boss didn't have security quite tight enough." is in Ducky or Jimmy's job description, right Ducky?" Ducky shook his head. "Yeah, I thought not. And don't forget poor Mitas, a civilian and truly an innocent bystander. Another oops! Now who do you suppose ordered the destruction of the ship ...and take a moment to consider how reluctant that person might be to have witnesses to all of those mistakes? Talk about bad politics, might even cost him his job. Not to mention the additional embarrassment of having to admit to lying to the families and friends in both the US and Israel about these witnesses being dead and who knows what story they came up with to explain our deaths! It's obvious to me that no order was ever given to search for us. Yeah we don't know that for sure but Rogers found us in a lifeboat, the Navy sure as hell could have if they'd made any effort.

So, yes, we know too much. We know about the mission, hell, we completed it for them. We know whose warhead it was originally. We know that Ferris duped the captain and crew into panicking and abandoning ship without functional EPIRBs, putting their lives at risk. There had to be some questions when the crew was rescued, hopefully they were rescued, and those five – Mitas, Ferris, Rogers, Gellis and Wong were missing. However, I would say the most damning thing for us is that our being alive means we must know about the destruction of Chimera by the US Navy. In the time since the Sailfish crew found out who we are, someone must have figured out how much time there was between our last communications with NCIS and firing on the Chimera. They put two and two together and know we must have been in visual range."

There was silence for a couple of minutes while the others digested Gibbs' words. Mitas was relieved that Ziva's father was coming to their rescue and he wanted to tell Gibbs to just get going, not to waste any more time with their own country, obviously they were in danger from their own Navy.

Tony spoke this time. "So if they do offer us something like going home, can we trust them?"

"I don't. Of the group I saw, I would only trust Fornell and Morrow."

"Morrow is Deputy Director of DHS, right? So he's got clout and he always did good things for us, Boss. Maybe Tim's right and we should at least listen."

Ducky spoke up, "Or this is a delaying tactic until they can move a Navy ship in and take us prisoner, scuttle the Big Fish and we disappear again. I'm sorry to sound like an alarmist but I think with the facts as you've outlined them and the way we've been treated, we have to consider the possibility."

The others nodded and turned to Gibbs. "Let's go visit Israel."

He sighed, "Need a vote on this, not making this decision myself."

Tony called it out, "Those in favor of rendezvousing with the Israeli ship raise their hands."

When five hands were raised, Gibbs relaxed a little and raised his to make it unanimous. It was a drastic move and he didn't know where it would lead, but at this point it felt safer than dealing with their former employer. Mitas exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

Gibbs nodded, "All right, to the rendezvous we will go. Ziva, do we need to contact anyone?"

"Yes, the captain of the Dolphin, but it is too soon, we will not be in contact range for another hour. Here are the coordinates."

She showed them to Gibbs and he handed them to Tony. "Change course, DiNozzo, and head for the Israelis."

"Aye Aye Captain." The course needed a slightly southerly change but Tony didn't want to tip off the Sailfish in case SecNav was indeed sending a Navy ship to intercept them, so he deliberately kept the change to a minimum for the immediate future. As they continued to pull away, the Sailfish stopped. Looking back, they could see it sitting there in the water, no doubt awaiting further orders. Finally with their speed and distance, the ship disappeared from their sight. When Tim's calculations finally confirmed they would be beyond the Sailfish's radar and other sensors, Tony changed course to reach their new Israeli friends, their future countrymen.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: To our readers in the Philippines, my thoughts and prayers go out to you, your families and friends.

* * *

Chapter Thirty Six

On the Big Fish: Five Months, Three Weeks and Six Days…

Thirty minutes later, Ziva's new phone chirped at her. Surprised, she answered it and then held it out to Gibbs. He answered cautiously, thinking it was Ziva's father. "This is Gibbs."

"That's more polite than I've ever heard you in my entire life and I've been to two of your weddings, Jethro."

"Tobias! What's going on, how are you on Ziva's burn phone?"

"Because Abby is one smart cookie and might have seen some security footage from the Coast Guard ship last night, footage of Ziva talking on a phone with Ducky standing by looking as forlorn as I've ever seen the man. Anyway, Abby figured out who Ziva would have called from the Sailfish. When your ship didn't stop when hailed, I had to find another way to reach you, so I called Director David and surprise, he knew who I was - we can discuss that some other time - and I found out he'd made a formal complaint to the State Dept. _and_ the United Nations, neither of which SecNav had seen fit to share with us. By the time I spoke with Morrow, he'd heard but not before that travesty of a video conference, Jethro, I swear."

"Ok, so that's a nice long story, Tobias, tells me nothing new. I already know SecNav is gunning for us. Did the Director of Mossad tell you that we're on our way to becoming Israeli citizens? "

Fornell gulped, "Geez, Gibbs! That's a great backup plan, if pretty drastic. So you don't trust anyone."

"You and maybe Morrow."

"Ok, good I'm thankful I'm still on your good side, Jethro because I gotta tell you, seeing you on that screen, I wanted to jump through and do something really unmanly."

"Can't hug a screen, Tobias."

"My point exactly."

"So…?"

"We've got it worked out. The Secretary of State overruled the SecNav, who by the way is curiously friendly with the spooks at Langley. You will all be welcomed home, including our favorite Israeli, with open arms and I gotta warn you, they're talking White House visits. Tom opted not to wait so your families are being notified now. As soon as you agree to turn about and come home, Madam Secretary will hold a press conference joyfully announcing your return from the dead. I don't know what cockamamie story she'll come up with but I hope it's better crafted than the crap your former Director put out at your supposed death. No one who knew any of you for longer than 5 minutes believed that one!"

Gibbs felt his gut unclench but after their experience with the Coast Guard, had a question for Tobias. It was an old code they'd used for years to determine if the other one was acting under outside influence, under duress. He posed the question and Fornell gave him back the answer meaning "no duress, this is the real deal."

"Good, Tobias. Does Director David know all this?"

"Yes, I started to update him but he'd already been contacted by State and the UN. He's happy, well, I doubt that man is ever happy, but he's pleased his daughter is alive and assured me she is welcome to continue her work with you. And Jethro, the Sailfish has been ordered out of the vicinity and your special package, now theirs, will be helo'd into DC. And don't worry about their Captain, Morrow spoke with him privately and got a copy of SecNav's orders so we know he was following orders."

"Don't give a rat's about him, Tobias, except to hope he never crosses paths with any of us. All right, I need to talk to my crew and see what we want to do. Call me back in 10 minutes?"

"Is your ship still underway? Abby said we'll lose contact if you get beyond some coordinates she gave me."

"Not going to happen."

"Ok, 10 minutes my friend. I hope it is good news, if not I'll come visit you in Israel."

"Or on our island, Tobias, we might just end up going back there."

"Wow, ok, I'm disconnecting. .Soon!"

Gibbs took a deep breath as he disconnected and turned to his crew who of course were no further than 3 inches away from him. He chuckled, "One of you should have reached over and hit the speaker button. Ok, how much did you hear?"

They clamored at him; he laughed this time and told them the gist of the conversation. The United States Government, in the person of the Secretary of State, had overruled the Secretary of the Navy, and was preparing to welcome them home, all of them including Ziva, with open arms. Further, Tom Morrow had taken it upon himself to notify their families that they were in fact very much alive.

There were sighs of relief and Mitas looked around realizing this had not been a ploy, nobody was laughing or congratulating Gibbs on his play. They really had been going to Israel. He thought about that, he'd voted for Israel because he really liked Ziva, he'd always wanted to visit the country and he figured they would stay there until the U.S. got its proverbial head out of its ass. And he didn't want to leave these people. He missed his brothers, yes, and he was glad they were being told he was alive, but he'd learned so much with these people, experienced so much, he wasn't ready to let them go.

Gibbs asked them for another vote on whether to risk going home or continuing to their rendezvous. Before they voted, Tim asked a question, "Boss, given all the crap that's been thrown at us, is there any possibility that Fornell was acting under duress?"

Mitas was puzzled, he knew what duress meant but in this case he was fuzzy on the context. Tim explained that he was asking if it was possible that Fornell was being forced to lie to Gibbs, was this really a trap of some sort. When Mitas nodded his understanding, Gibbs replied, telling them he'd used a code and Fornell had answered with the "no duress" answer.

There was another collective sigh of relief and then the vote was taken. It was again unanimous, this time for going home.

As they stood, still absorbing everything, Ziva's burn phone chirped again and she handed it to Gibbs to answer. This time he found the speaker button so they could all hear Fornell ask if there had been a decision made.

He gave an affirmative, "Yes, we're coming home."

Tobias actually cheered and that made them laugh, then their favorite FBI agent said, "There are a couple of people here with me who want to hear your voices."

Knowing that was Jimmy and Abby, the group nearly smothered Gibbs as they pressed close.

Ducky reached for the phone, his hands shaking with emotion. "Jimmy, can you hear me?"

They heard the tears in their friend's voice, "Yes, Dr. Mallard, it's so good to hear your voice. And the others - please can you each say something? Abby's crying too hard to talk right now, but just hearing you…"

Ducky managed to get out a "Hello Abby" past the lump in his throat. He handed the phone to Tim who was next to him. "Hi Jimmy, hi Abs, can't wait to see you two!"

Ziva grabbed the phone from him, "Shalom, my friends."

Tony smiled at her as he took it next, "Hi guys, we have a lot to tell you."

Mitas shook his head but the phone was forced into his hands, so he finally spoke, "Uh, hi Jimmy and Abby. You don't know me, I'm Cory Mitas, been with your family all this time."

Gibbs patted him on the shoulder and took the phone back, "Abs, Jimmy, we love you guys and can't wait to see you. Tony's right, we have a lot to share with you."

There was a pause and some indistinct talking in the background and finally they heard Abby's very teary voice, "I love you all so much, we _knew_ you were alive, but nobody but Tobias believed us. Get home safely and fast please!"

Tobias came back on the line and told them that the Israeli government insisted that the U.S. Navy had proved itself untrustworthy in this situation, in other words they didn't trust the Secretary of the Navy to adhere to State's orders. To ease their concerns, a ship with UN Peacekeepers aboard had been dispatched and would escort them to DC and no U.S. Navy or Coast Guard vessels would be involved. Plans were made for their arrival and finally the call was disconnected.

That was when the cheering broke out and Mitas, who had had the camera in his possession since Gibbs had been taken off the ship, making sure to capture as much as possible, took advantage of his crewmates, taking copious photos of each of them as they bounced around the deck in sheer relief and joy that they were being welcomed home. They were suddenly full of energy and before they headed back to American waters, Tim thumbed through his music selection and then set the laptop up to play his selections full blast. His first one was "Born in the USA" courtesy of that other Boss, Bruce Springsteen, his second selection was "God Bless the USA" by the late Lee Greenwood. They replayed both selections several times while Gibbs took the wheel and reversed course again, this time truly heading for home.

The UN ship rendezvoused with them that evening, that crew laughing when they heard "Born in the USA" still blasting off the Big Fish and saw the happiest crew any of them had ever laid eyes on. The two ships headed towards the mainland. It took them another day before they could see land and changed course to head south for their ultimate destination.

And so it was that five months, three weeks and six days after the NCIS group took off from the Anacostia-Bolling airfield, they passed it on their way to the Navy Yard. The UN ship accompanied them as far as the opening to the estuary and then blasted their proud farewell to them.

The crew of the Big Fish lined the rails near the prow as they motored through the estuary, the ship's batteries having never failed them on their voyage. Standing in the prow Tim and Tony, remembering their joke all those months ago, briefly held GG and Phyllis in their arms as they approached the Navy Yard waving at anyone they saw. Each member of the crew took the helm for a brief moment or two on their final approach, but it was Gibbs at the helm as they saw the Barry in front of them. There was an empty slip next to it and Gibbs carefully maneuvered the 'Fish into place, calling out orders to his crew. As he shut the engine off, his crew stood facing him with the biggest grins he'd ever seen. He walked out of the pilot's tower and stood grinning back at them as they snapped to attention, gave him a sharp salute and then swarmed him, cheering madly. They'd made it, they were home!

THE END

Well, except for the sequel

* * *

To my readers around the world, on every continent except Antarctica (darn those penguins!), thank you, it's been a pleasure sharing this with you and an immeasurable thrill for me to know that people in countries I've only dreamed of visiting are reading my words.


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